The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare
by Icha
Summary: What will happen if Batman faces Wonder Woman AND Catwoman together? I mean literally. Chapter 9. Listening to two love stories.
1. Mirrors

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha

Rated T

_Disclaimer: __What will happen if Batman faces Wonder Woman AND Catwoman together? I mean literally. __All characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! __Please note that **I've downgraded the rating from M to T**… I'm sorry to cause some disappointments; there will be kisses and all that… but I'm not sure if it is hawt enough to classify as M. So, to avoid higher expectations, I'm downgrading it to T. My sincere apologies._

**Part 1. Mirrors**

The Annual UNESCO charity had just commenced when the glamorous audience and paparazzi at the front door automatically turned their heads towards the red carpet outside. A tall, raven-haired beauty was walking down the aisle. Her slender figure was exotically clad in white and gold silk sari that accentuated her beautiful tanned skin. The outfit was not her usual garment, but she was definitely not out of fashion in it. Flashes of light blocked her way as the paparazzi tried to capture her pictures for the earliest edition of their media. She posed for 1-2 minutes elegantly before resuming her walk, which was kept ever slow by other interested parties who wished to talk to her.

"I never thought that you could be this beautiful and elegant in saree, Diana," a deep baritone voice greeted her as she finally reached a safe corner where she could drink her Martini offered by an awestruck waiter only moments ago. The tall beauty hid her smile behind her Martini glass before she replied,

"Well, Mr. Wayne, you have never seen me in a sari before."

"You could have worn it to the Wayne Charity last month."

"You didn't ask for it."

"I will, for the next one."

Diana of Themyscira was indeed very charming that night in the white and gold sari. Her forehead was still adorned with her tiara though, and a pair of silver bracers still enveloped her wrists, an unmistakable signature that she was actually Wonder Woman who happened to wear a traditional Indian dress. Diana unveiled her smile and finally broke her regular banter with Bruce Wayne. "Don't push too far, Bruce. If I didn't know you better, I would think that you are flirting with me."

Bruce still flashed his playboy smile. "Perhaps I _am_, Princess. Speaking of which, where is your knight of the night? Don't tell me he left you alone here."

"Tom?" Diana shrugged. "He has things to attend to at the moment… and you know… it's nice to be alone once in a while. Enjoying being your self by yourself, you of all people should understand that."

It took him only a fraction of a second before coming into agreement with her. "Don't I know it." He then changed his tone into a more formal one as he asked her, "What do you think of the exhibited jewelry? I assume that the Embassy of India asked you to give the opening remarks for this occasion?"

This year's Annual UNESCO gala dinner was collaborating with the Embassy of India for the United States to display an exquisite jewelry collection from India, stretching back to more than 1,000 years ago. One of the masterpieces of the night was a layered gold necklace beautifully adorned with a string of red blood ruby stones. This piece was particularly famous for it used to belong to Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar of the 16th century Mughal Empire in India. Diana was looking at that particular piece of jewelry, displayed and protected at the central point of the convention center, as she replied to her colleague's question.

"I think…honestly… if none of your Gothamite _friends_ attempt to barge into the night to spoil the party… it will be such a lucky and lovely night for this beautiful collection to be admired." She drilled her gaze into Bruce's deep blue eyes. " Please don't tell me that it's the only reason for your being here? New York is, after all, not your playground."

" Well that… And to see you in sari."

"Sweet," Diana grinned and waved her empty Martini glass. "Here's your date of the night, Bruce. Don't let her see you flirting with me." With that, she left him to stick around with a beautiful red head who seemed to have forgotten that she had two breasts to cover, partially at least, for they were almost spilling out all over the place.

-xxx-

The evening went well for Diana of Themyscira, the Wonder Woman… at least until she was called to the podium to deliver her opening remarks. She walked up to the podium with ease, definitely not hindered by her flowing sari, and gave a very interesting short speech on the great civilizations of the past that often met with the Grecian culture along the way. She was about to end her speech when she spotted a short-haired woman with a very lithe figure strolling along the other end of the floor, a few feet away from where Bruce Wayne and the clinging red head were standing. Diana made a mental alarm note to check that woman's suspicious movements as she spoke.

"And as Sultan Akbar promoted love, peace and harmony throughout his entire empire and embrace the Hindus and the Moslems together, let us celebrate this night as the night where we remember that – no matter what our differences are – we live on one planet, and should ultimately flourish as one civilization. The civilization of humanity!"

Thunderous applause welcomed the end of Diana's speech, and her heart was once again filled with warm feelings of happiness for she knew that at least some of her speech tonight struck the heart of some people there. With luck, some those rich people might donate a large sum of money for cultural restoration projects in several developing countries that eventually would also benefit the locals. She was about to leave when her enhanced hearing picked up a strange noise.

_Oh Goddess… not the criminals please…_ She automatically glanced upwards to the glass dome above to see if there were any dark figures lurking there. There were none, as far as her huntress eyes could see. She made a quick sweep across the floor to see if there were any suspicious movements among the audience; her eyes caught Bruce Wayne's eyes squinting ever so slightly at her._ He also sensed something wrong here. Good._

Then, all of the sudden, a woman screamed. For a good reason, for suddenly a weird freak in yellow and green costume emerged from one of the glass beads of her expensive dress. The freak flashed an ugly grin when he greeted the fainting woman.

"Greetings, Madam. May I take some of your jewelry?"

"Mirror Master!" Wonder Woman yelled across the floor. "Did you leave your brain at home?" Her voice was only a bit faster than her hand, for a second later her tiara already hit Mirror Master's gun, sending it flying across the room. The lowly criminal screamed.

"Ouch! That hurts, &#*$*!"

"Better luck next time," Wonder Woman suddenly already appeared next to him, still in her sari. Effortlessly, she lifted Mirror Master by the neck a few inches off the floor. "Do you want your lower or upper jaw broken this time?"

The lowly criminal was sweating, but he obviously was still trying to keep his bravado intact. "Why don't you…" he gasped for air, "… talk to my friend there?" His fingers pointed to the other side of the room – where the famous necklace of Sultan Akbar was displayed – and Diana squinted. Smoke. Gas. The audience started to panic. _Oh, no!_

She threw Mirror Master several feet away as she screamed, "Gas! Evacuate the room! Batman!"

"On it," replied a dark figure that suddenly glided across the room and landed next to her.

"Alert NYPD, I will do the evacuation." Diana was about to do her famous spin to turn into the full-costumed Wonder Woman when Batman halted her. "Forget it, Diana. It's not gas. It's –"

Diana followed his obscured gaze and frowned. "…Magic…"

The smoke abated to reveal a tall and slender woman figure with a mask.

"Morgaine le Fay," the Dark Knight whispered.

It was indeed Morgaine le Fay. The medieval witch walked leisurely towards the glass compartment where the gold necklace was kept. A five year old would know that she was attempting to steal the necklace.

Diana needed only a split second to overcome her surprise. She spun and changed into her Wonder Woman armour. "Morgaine le Fay! What in Hades' name are you doing here?"

"Ah, Wonder Woman! What do you think, Princess? Should I spell 'stealing' to you?" The witch raised her hands and produced violet rays that electrocuted the glass compartment, making it vanish from sight. Knowing that Wonder Woman would fly across the room in seconds to prevent her, she reached for the gold necklace –

- And was caught by surprise as her hands were suddenly strangled by a black leather whip.

"In your dream, honey!"

A powerful tuck, and Morgaine le Fay fell and rolled over to the floor unceremoniously.

"That gold necklace is mine, baby! That's why I'm here tonight!"

Wonder Woman halted mid-air; she almost could not believe her own eyes. _Oh, Hera. What a great night…_

A few feet behind her, Batman groaned silently. "Catwoman…"

-xxx-

It was Catwoman all right, complete in her head-to-toe noir costume and black leather whip. Her green eyes flashed naughtily behind her goggles.

"Sorry to spoil your party, Morgaine dear, but this necklace is mine," she purred in satisfaction as she reached for the necklace. Yet, magic proved too fast even for the Feline Fatale, for the necklace was suddenly enveloped in another string of violet rays and was flying on its own towards Morgaine le Fay's hand.

"Not so fast, Kitten," smirked the Witch. "Do you seriously think that a petty thief like you can beat me?" She let the necklace hovered over her head, still enveloped in violet rays held by one hand, while her other one produced a glowing green ball. She threw the energy ball towards Catwoman, whose agility saved her life from being fried into non-existence.

"How dare you?!" Hissed Catwoman as she made a summersault and returned to strike back. "Give me that!" The clever and persistent cat burglar kept a very close fighting range with Morgaine le Fay, hence forcing the witch to use brute force or martial arts instead of magic. Unfortunately for Morgaine le Fay, martial arts were never her forte. She was slammed to the floor and gasped for air; the necklace twirled over in the air and landed across the room.

"Damned!" cursed Catwoman as she lurched herself towards the necklace, finding it not hard at all to reach the spot, for almost all audience were already evacuated, leaving the convention floor empty. But she had forgotten another player.

"Not so fast, Catwoman!" Wonder Woman raced towards her. "That necklace is neither yours nor Morgaine's." Her hands reached for the necklace at the same time as Catwoman's. "It –"

"Mine!" Catwoman screamed.

" – Belongs to the world!" Wonder Woman also raised her pitched an octave higher.

And both women were suddenly enveloped in a bright golden light that seemed not to fade away.

The room was silent. Some NYPD cops who had just arrived were reluctant to approach the spot. From across the room, Morgaine le Fay's cold laughter was heard, her hands still smoking after launching a high voltage energy ball towards Catwoman and Wonder Woman. Her laughter was not for long, though. Batman suddenly landed next to her and grabbed her robe.

"What did you do to them?!" He squinted and lowered his voice into a mere whisper. "I swear by everything sacred and profane, if anything happen to either of them-"

Morgaine le Fay was taken by surprise for a few seconds before resuming her laughter. "Why Batboy! Why would you – of all heroes – care for such a thief and a murderer?! Unless…" The Witch blinked behind her mask. "By the dark winter! Of course! You love the thief!" Ignoring the Bat's grim glare, she produced a more hellish laughter before suddenly stopped. "Oh no… No way! This is far more fun! I never thought that you could –"

No one around her would know what she thought Batman could do, for a cop suddenly said, "Here they are! They're still here!"

Batman immediately dropped Morgaine le Fay and ran towards the dimming light. His heart beat almost stopped a few minutes ago, and now he could feel it beating again… air coming into his brain again.

"Wonder Woman… Catwoman…"

The light disappeared completely to reveal only a single figure. A woman clad in black leather, crouching on the floor and holding her head in pain.

"Catwoman…" The Dark Knight felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. _Where is the Princess? _"Thank God you're alright. Where is… Wonder Woman?" He helped her to stand on her feet again before repeating his question. "Where is Diana? What happened just now?"

"I… I don't know…" the Feline Fatale gasped for air. "My head almost exploded…I thought I would die…" she swallowed hard before suddenly asking in a sharp tone. "Where's the necklace?! Where is it?"

"I don't know where it is. It's not important anyway…" Somehow, Batman's tone was rather too soft for the Dark Knight.

"No!" Catwoman suddenly pulled apart from the Batman. "You don't understand! You will always never understand! I need that necklace!"

"Catwoman, forget it." Batman's dark tone returned immediately. "You need medical attention."

"No!" Catwoman retreated defiantly. "This is important. I need to –" her eyes suddenly caught a glittering item nearby. She leapt towards it to claim the necklace once more.

"I told you, no!" Batman was faster than her and grabbed the necklace. "Forget it! You are coming with me to the paramedics, or to jail!"

"Save the speech, Batman! I never need that!" Catwoman launched several attacks at the Batman, she managed to grab the necklace somehow, made a 360deg roundhouse kick to expel the Dark Knight – and a glowing light appeared again from within her…

… To reveal a confused Wonder Woman who stood wobbly with the gold necklace in her hand.

"Whuh… What happened???"

"Diana?!" Batman managed to stop his kick mid-air… not that his kick would fatally hurt the Amazon anyway.

"Batman? What happened?" feeling a sudden rush to black out, Diana tried to steady herself. She looked at the necklace with curiosity. "Did we stop them? Where is Morgaine le Fay?"

"Gone," assessed Batman. "So is Mirror Master. I think they were afraid of what happened to you two."

"Two of us?" Diana exhaled. "Gaea. Where is Catwoman?"

Batman was silent for 2-3 minutes, definitely too long for a Bat. He took the necklace from Diana's hand and examined it. A particularly big ruby reflected in the neon light, creating a surreal glow on his face. Finally, the Great Detective tentatively said, "Will you spin again, Diana?"

"Why?" Wonder Woman massaged her temple. "Hera… my head…"

"Just do it. I have a theory." He hesitated before adding, "Please."

Diana looked at her colleague through the semi-opaque lenses. She finally shrugged before spinning. A glowing golden light enveloped her… to reveal a more puzzled Catwoman.

"What the heck is actually happening here?!" Growled the Cat. "My head almost exploded again, and gimme back my necklace!"

Despite her anger, Batman felt his heart sinking. The weirdest of the weirdest things had happened to him, but not as ironic as this one.

"You've gotta be kidding, God. Wonder Woman and Catwoman in one package," the Dark Knight shook his head in disbelief. "The wildest dream… and the worst nightmare…"

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_Muahahaha! What do you think? WonderCat combo… what will she/they do to the Bat?_


	2. Cohabitation

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha

Rated T

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. I don't want to even go there… it hurts my head…__Please note that **I've downgraded the rating from M to T**… I'm sorry to cause some disappointments; there will be kisses and all that… but I'm not sure if it is hawt enough to classify as M. So, to avoid higher expectations, I'm downgrading it to T. My sincere apologies._

**Part 2. Cohabitation**

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Zatanna's exclamation was clearly heard in the depth of the Batcave where the Batman was sitting on his large Bat-throne, doing various things with his super Batcomputer, and Alfred Pennyworth was attending to a very annoyed Catwoman.

"I assure you, we kid you not, Miss Zatanna," Alfred Pennyworth's calm voice did nothing to make Zatanna less dumbfounded or Catwoman less fidgeting. "Miss Selina, would you please, we need to do a proper CT-scan at you."

"At us, you mean?!" Selina Kyle a.k.a. the Catwoman finally barked. She had taken off her costume and basically was just wearing a hospital gown. She was lying down on the CT scan bed, her body slowly entered the humming CT scan machine, but she was still ready to claw and head-butt anyone who pissed her off right now. "Tell this woman to stop shouting at my head! It hurts!"

"I'm not shouting at your head," Zatanna said.

"Not you!" Catwoman pressed her temples with both hands. "Tell Wonder Woman to shut up!"

"Miss Selina, you are disturbing the reading," Alfred stated matter-of-factly.

"Are you really saying that…" Zee leaned forward, "…Diana is…somewhere inside your head? What's this, "Being John Malkovich" The Live Show?"

"More like "Being Morgaine le Fay's Victims" The Live Show," Batman suddenly spoke without turning his attention away from his computer. "But I have a strong indication that this phenomenon is not what Morgaine intended. Otherwise, she would not have run away that soon."

"With Mirror Master," Alfred's expert fingers ran through several sequences on his CT scan machine. "Who – if I may add – succeeded in taking several jewels from the display when the whole incident took place."

"Bastard," muttered Selina, almost to herself. "And those were some great pieces I wanted for myself…" She bit her tongue to prevent herself saying impolite things, for Alfred was assisting her to get out of the CT scan bed. "Thank you, Alfred…" she said politely, only to then suddenly straightened up and said, "Okay! Okay! I will say that, I will! Just shut up!"

"Say what?" Batman and Zatanna asked in unison; Alfred on the other hand just quirked one of his eyebrows.

"Wonder Woman wants me to ask you to check the Sultan Akbar necklace. It might be closely related to this…weird stuff. She thinks it has a magical property that Morgaine was looking for." Catwoman sighed and added, "Yeah, whatever. You're welcome." To the obvious question marks floating above Batman and Zatanna's heads, she said, "Don't look at me like that! She just thanked me."

"Soo…Diana is talking in your head now?" Zatanna tried to conclude. "Can she see me? Can she feel the surroundings?" When Catwoman shrugged an 'I don't care', the Mistress of Magic took out a small blue velvet pouch from her pocket. "Sniff it, Selina. Don't tell me what you think the scent is. Now ask Diana to tell me what it is?"

Catwoman exhaled a longer breath before asking, "Well? What do you think that stuff is?" She waited for a while. "No, I don't think so. Are you sure?" To Zatanna, she finally said, "Lavender and sage. And she thinks that your new hair cut is nice," add Selina as she rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"Is that what you think too, Selina?" Batman suddenly took an interest in Zatanna's examination.

"The hair cut _is_ nice, though I think the layers were overdone, and Zee can always use a bit of high lights. But the scent, I think it's only lavender," Selina admitted. "Diana said that it has a bit of sage in it."

"Lavender, and a bit of sage, it is," Zatanna confirmed. "So Diana's senses are still functioning. What do you think this is all about, B?"

"I'm tempted to think that this is akin to Firestorm merging with Firehawk, but obviously she didn't smell the surroundings the way Diana does," Batman said. He suddenly produced a water carafe, filled and dripping with ice water and touched its side at Selina's bare palm. "Does she feel this?"

"Hey! Watch out! It's cold!" Selina growled before she sighed. "She thinks that it's great, she's been in need of something cold, and she wants to drink." She rolled her eyes again. "Well, I DON'T want to drink! At least, I want an iced lemon tea, NOT plain water!"

"A glass of cold lemon tea then, Miss Selina?" No one knew if Alfred was joking or being sincere with his British manners.

"Does it mean that she has to drink for two?" Zee asked Batman in disbelief. A flicker of humor suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Does she have to _eat_ for two now, too?!"

"Zee! I'm not friends with you anymore!" Selina made a frustrated and defeated expression when she said, "She wants some light supper, Alfred…"

"A glass of cold lemon tea and some light supper, then, Miss Selina and Miss Diana," Alfred concluded leisurely before reporting to his master, "CT scan shows no sign of abnormal activities in Miss Selina's brain, Master Bruce. It also shows the signs of one brain only, if I may add," he added an afterthought before retreating back to his domain kitchen at the Manor above the Cave. "Oh, I've asked the computer to do a full analysis of Miss Selina's systems, it will be ready shortly."

"Firestorm and that woman inside her only eat for one!" Ignoring the polite-mannered butler, Selina glared at the cave owner. "Bruce! You've gotta do something!"

"Well, he is doing something, Selina honey," Zatanna tried to stifle her laughter to no avail. "Just be patient."

"You're not the one with a princess in your head telling you what to do!"

"Really?" Batman spoke again with a bit of mirth in his voice. "That bossy? Even to you?!"

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Catwoman was ready to kick Batman again.

"I think I need to find Mirror Master, Zee," Batman suddenly rose from his chair. "You stay here and try some of your spells."

Zatanna nodded in full servitude. "Yes, Sire. You know where to find him?"

"Of course," was the snobbish answer of a Bat as he disappeared into the darkness.

-xxx-

A bowl of pumpkin soup, half a loaf of soft French bread, a glass of ice lemon tea and a handful of spells later, Selina Kyle sat down with Zatanna at one of the seats in the Cave. She had donned her Catwoman costume once more, sans goggles, cowl and gloves; her eyes were wandering helplessly towards the ceilings.

"Thanks for the supper, Alfred," she finally said as Alfred returned to bring the plates back to the kitchen.

"You're welcome, Misses," Alfred was obviously addressing not only the visible women there, but also the invisible Diana. "Any of the spells work, Miss Zatanna?"

"No…" Zee was slouching at her seat. "Morgaine's spells are strong, but I usually can counteract at least some of them. But this time…" she scratched her head, thinking, "I gotta funny feeling that it's not only Morgaine's spells that we're dealing with here."

"Well, I sincerely hope we can sort this out soon, Ladies," Alfred retreated back to his kitchen. "There are two rooms available for you all upstairs, should you need to stay overnight."

"Thank you Alfred," Zatanna said absent-mindedly, her eyes fixed on the fidgety Catwoman in front of her, her fingers tapping the console methodically. "I might need to go grab my old spell book, Selina. Do you think –"

"No, I'm not doing that. Forget it, Princess!"

Zee tilted her head. "Forget what?"

Selina glowered. "She asked me to spin! She needs to talk to you directly. Can you imagine that?!"

"Really?" Zee leaned forward. "Interesting. What will happen if she becomes her… I mean, if you… revert back to the background? Can you feel what she touches, too?"

Obviously, Selina wasn't listening to Zatanna. "I can't do that!...Oh, brother!... Fine! Just for 15 minutes. No way! No, I won't!" She finally slouched in defeat and whispered, "I hate you." To Zatanna, she asked, "How do I spin?"

Zee bit her lips to suppress her laughter once more and pulled a somewhat serious face. "I think you need to…uhm… lift your hands a bit." Her eyes darted quickly to the rest room in the Cave for. Longer than this, she really needed to pee and release herself in laughter.

"Clockwise. Right," Catwoman was obviously talking to Diana, not Zatanna. "Lift hands?"

"Perhaps you can sing or hum a bit? You know… like the song theme for 'Pretty Soldiers Sailor Moon'? It always works for those girls." Zee suggested and ducked immediately as Catwoman's cowl flew towards her. She kept grinning as Catwoman grumpily spun in front of her. A bright golden light engulfed Selina Kyle before she disappeared to let Wonder Woman take her spot.

Still in full Wonder Woman costume, Diana of Themyscira exhaled and grinned at Zee. "Phew… I never thought that Selina Kyle was so bossy."

Zee grinned back. "Yeah, I know the feeling…"

-xxx-

The grim atmosphere of that particular slum section in East End was nothing compared to the gruesome expression of a fence who was examining a box of exquisite jewels inside his illegal shop. He played around with his out of date mustache before writing down a number and shoving the paper to his customer, who obviously disagreed with what he had written.

"At least you should gimme two million for these ones!"

"In your dreams, Mirror Master. How do I know these are the originals?"

"The Embassy of India sponsored this event, you idiot! Are you suggesting that they're lying to the public?"

"Well, perhaps. Besides, this is not Koh-i-noor," grinned the trader greedily. "That number is already a good offer you know? I suggest you take it."

Mirror Master scowled and growled. "Well, I suggest you increase it, or else –"

"I suggest that you deliver them back to me and come with me to jail," suddenly a grim tone was heard behind them. The jewelry trader squeaked a 'Batman' before he grabbed his gun and fired several times to the ceiling, of course to no avail. The slimy fence was down in three seconds after a left jab and a kick knocked him unconscious.

"Now, you…" Batman strode towards the pale-faced Mirror Master. "Don't you think you can play around this time." He slapped his opponent's gun, grabbed him by the collar, and said in a very low and dangerous tone. "Talk. What did Morgaine le Fay offer you? Why did you help her, other than for the jewels? Most importantly, where is le Fay?"

Mirror Master still tried to keep his bravado intact. "And if I don't want to tell you?"

Beneath his cowl, the Batman narrowed his eyes. He produced a grim smile that made Mirror Master regret what he had said earlier. "I think you'll be ready not to eat solid food for several weeks."

-xxx-

"I still don't get it, Diana. Why the side effect? I get it that the necklace must have a magical property, that's what Morgaine le Fay wanted…but why the strange side effect?" Zatanna paced back and forth around the Batcave platform.

"That's why you and Batman need to get a hold of that jewelry," Diana perched on the computer console, drumming her fingers absentmindedly. "We have to examine it independently."

"I think the Embassy withdrew all the jewels immediately after the incident," explained Zatanna, "which makes it rather impossible for us to get a hold on it…"

"Unless I ask the Embassy of India. They will listen to me." Diana tilted her head and said, "No, we're going as me, Selina. With all due respect, this is the time for diplomacy, not thievery."

"She's suggesting that you…her…whatever…steal the necklace?"

"She said it's faster," shrugged Diana. "And has more elements of adventure."

Zee chuckled. "Typical."

"She also said that she's so not going to befriend you anymore."

"That's hardly news," Zee released a short laughter. "So…what are you going to do?"

Diana yawned her answer. "I need to sleep. Tomorrow morning… well, in a few hours, I will go to the Embassy of India." It was indeed already past 3 o'clock in the morning. "Are you sure that this face is my face, Zatanna? I don't want to scare the Ambassador away."

"If my memory serves me right, that's still your face, Diana. But if you want to make sure, why don't you just check…" Zee made a swiping movement, chanted _'Rorrim raeppa'_, and a small mirror suddenly materialized on her hand. "Here you go. See for yourself."

Diana took the mirror, looked at her own reflection… and gasped. "Great Gaea!"

"What?!" Zatanna was suddenly alarmed. Upon Wonder Woman's signal, she came to stand next to her and looked at the mirror… to see a piece of her own reflection…and Catwoman, glaring at her. No reflection of Wonder Woman whatsoever, though.

"Whuh!!!" Zee was totally taken by surprise. "How… how come?!"

"How the hell should I know?!" was Selina Kyle's voice, but it had not originated from Diana. Instead, the voice came from inside the small mirror in Diana's hand. Zatanna peeked into the mirror and saw Selina's furious head talking to her. Inexplicably, Catwoman's hand inside the mirror did not seem to hold a mirror. Both of her hands were free, and she was making movements that suggested her pacing back and forth in front of the mirror.

"Are you saying… are you saying…" stuttered Zee helplessly.

"That this is exactly what happened to me before," Diana tried to explain. "I was trapped in a dimension akin to a bubble-glass, trying desperately to talk to anyone to help me."

"Then, how could Selina be the only person to hear you?"

"Because of that damned necklace," Selina retorted. "Diana and I were holding onto the necklace when Morgaine le Fay made a spell or something. When she screamed, I was the only one to hear her."

"I did not scream," Diana defended herself.

"You did, too." Selina rolled her eyes heavenwards. "I thought my head was about to split, and I had a strange echo in my head. Anyway, Zee!" She returned her attention to Zatanna, "I agree that the necklace has a hocus pocus that we must investigate. What do you think?"

"I think…" Zatanna slowly said, "We're in a veeery convoluted trouble, Ladies…"

-xxx-

Batman drove his latest incarnation of the Batmobile smoothly into the Batcave before parking it rapidly but neatly and got out of the vehicle. He still had no information of Morgaine le Fay's whereabouts; Mirror Master was a coward, but a truthful coward he was. At least the mad scientist was back in Arkham again now, and the Dark Knight could focus his examination on the weird case of Wonder/Cat combo. Oh, and he had to do damage control and gossip control. Can't imagine what Clark Kent would say if the Boy Scout found out that two of the most delicious and sexy female heroines and villains on Earth were now in his cave, in one package. But perhaps Clark was not the one to worry about. The images of Flash, Plastic Man, Kyle Rayner, Dick Grayson and Donna Troy gossiping were far more alarming for him. Oh… and Tom Tresser. What the hell should he tell that DMA agent?!

"Any luck, Zee?" he asked with his gravely tone as he walked up the Bat-platform… only to find Diana and Zatanna posing in front of a large, human-size mirror. What the heck?!

"Zatanna?" Trying to suppress his anger, Batman addressed Zatanna who was still more than 30 feet away from him. "I don't have to say that it's no time for fashion sense now. Catwoman spun again, I take it?"

"Yes, Bruce," was Diana's calm answer, her fingers cupped her own chin as she looked into the mirror. "And we're having a discussion with her, if you don't mind."

Before Batman had a chance to ask the next question, he heard Selina's irritated voice coming from the mirror. "I am NOT going to wait for you doing your stupid ambassadorial paperwork!"

"But I've agreed to wait on you while you're patrolling, Catwoman," Wonder Woman also argued back to the mirror. "We have to accept our situation now, and the best course of action now is to divide our time equally. What do you think, Zatanna?"

"What the hell is happening, Zee?!" was Batman's next question as he strode closer to the women. Apparently though, his Bat-glare did nothing to make Zatanna answer his question. The Mistress of Magic still frowned at the mirror before suggesting, "I think you have to take Diana's offer, Selina. You're still going to sleep in your apartment anyway. You just have to…follow her schedules a bit, as she does yours."

Batman finally arrived next to Diana and Zatanna. He craned his neck to see the mirror, made a silent 'oh', and then toned down his voice. "So, you were trapped inside another dimension when Selina was with us, Diana?" Upon Diana's nod, he resumed. "And the only way not to listen to her talking in to your head now is to stand in front of a mirror?"

"Yes, so she can be herself, and I can be me," explained Wonder Woman. "Catwoman, we have to make up our mind soon. I'm not going to waste my time arguing while I can get some good sleep…of sort."

Catwoman, who had also been silent for a while, was now diverting her attention to Batman. "You've got Morgaine, Bruce?" Upon Bruce's silent answer, she slouched in defeat. "So, we have to get the damned necklace to get her."

Zatanna nodded. "And you have to go to Diana's place to get some sleep first."

"And yes, I know you hate us all, Selina," Diana concluded Zee's sentence. "Can we leave now?" Upon Selina's nod, Diana gave Zatanna a signal. Zee nodded and wiped away the mirror.

"Have a nice sleep, girls," said Zee teasingly, knowing that Diana would not bark at her. She was right; Diana just grinned, said a good night to Bruce and "don't forget to call me anytime about this, Bruce!" and flew out of the cave, into the night. Zatanna sighed and caught the way Batman looked at her.

"Hey, don't blame me! At least you should be grateful! What if the three of us were inside one body now? Who would have the worst headache?!"

"It's. Not. Funny. Zee," growled the Bat.

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_I'm not really sure if the current Firestorm (Jason Rusch) still merges with Gehenna or Firehawk whatever, but just for the story's sake, I will just go with the Firehawk combo; which truly happened anyway around 52 or OYL. Oh, and this story is set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne has returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman, and where Diana is (sigh… ick!) dating Nemesis. I don't want to even go there… it hurts my head and heart…_


	3. Adjustments

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha

Rated T

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. I don't want to even go there… it hurts my head…Guest starring: our lovely Donna Troy! Please note that **I've downgraded the rating from M to T**… I'm sorry to cause some disappointments; there will be kisses and all that… but I'm not sure if it is hawt enough to classify as M. So, to avoid higher expectations, I'm downgrading it to T. My sincere apologies._

**Part 3. Adjustments**

Diana of Themyscira, the Wonder Woman, was currently having a headache. And she knew very well that this headache did not originate from the myriad of problems she had to face with her own Embassy of the Amazons, her newly re-activated Wonder Woman Foundation, or also some secret files from the Justice League International and the United Nations. No…her headache was originated from Selina Kyle's mind that kept intruding her own. It was the second day of her combo life with the Catwoman, and she was still not used to Catwoman's voice entering her own thoughts incessantly.

Diana was now taking her morning break in her well-furnished Grecian office inside the Amazonian House in Manhattan that was rebuilt two years back after the return of her sister Amazons; about the same time when she relinquished her unsuccessful attempt to be DMA super agent Diana Prince. She reached for her hot green tea and was about to enjoy its bitter fresh taste when Selina's protest was heard inside of her head.

"_Green tea again?! What, you wanna turn me into Japanese?!"_

"I thought we agreed to follow each other's schedules and habits," Diana rolled her eyes. "That includes green tea for me."

"_That's yucky!"_

"Hey! I follow your habit of drinking cola too!" She heard Selina's sigh and lowered her tone. "Look, I know it's not easy for you Selina. It's not easy for me either. I only did three items of paper work this morning, and it's less than half of my usual amount and speed when I'm…alone."

"_I also had more patrol time when I was alone," _Selina retorted. _"Plus, I usually could enjoy the sunrise much better before I slept."_

Diana sighed. "Perhaps that's why I can't finish many reports this morning! For lack of sleep!"

It turned out that the problem with this combo life was much more than what both women had anticipated. When one woman was inside the bubble dimension, the only way for her to talk to the other was by really talking to her… through the bubble walls around her, to be precise. Both women had learned that when one of them was inside the bubble, they only needed to talk in normal voice before the other could hear her. Neither of them could detect each other's mind, even when one of them was inside the other dimension. But one could still _feel_ and _taste_ whatever her combo partner felt or tasted. So, when Diana was excited about Ferdinand's delicious panna e funghi pasta, Selina could feel it too. Luckily, the latter woman also thought that the khitotaur's pasta was great. But when Diana drank a mixture of Amazonian herbal tea later, Selina almost gagged, for she could taste it and she decided that it was way too exotic for her.

Similarly, Diana couldn't stand Selina's habit of drinking either frizzy drinks like cola or caffeine such as espresso during Catwoman's patrol hours. Selina's body was accustomed to both beverages, and she needed lots of caffeine to stay awake during the patrol. But Diana's systems were different, and she felt dizzy whenever Selina took another cup of drink. And she – being a long time vegetarian – almost threw up as well when Selina ate a big portion of McDonald's super burger combo. The Catwoman refused to follow Diana's vegetarian life, so whenever Diana was herself again (that's in the morning and afternoon), she always consumed lots and lots of salads and detox juices to balance herself.

"Any news from Bruce?" It was Selina's fifth time asking the same question that morning.

Diana rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Selina, don't you think that you would have known it if he sent a message by now?"

"_What I meant to say is that you should call him again to ask about the investigation. Or at least, bug Zee again."_

"I've told you already, Bruce is now in a Wayne Enterprise board meeting; and he can't be disturbed. Zatanna has been trying to locate Dr. Fate to help us in this case, and you know how he likes to keep in his own dimension, instead of ours." Diana realized the irony of her last statement, so she added an afterthought, "Well, mine, in this case."

"_Well, what about India?!"_

"I thought I made it clear that the Ambassador was sick yesterday, and we are scheduled to see him after lunch. Today, if I haven't told you that the nth time." Diana took a report from her desk and sighed again. "And no, we're not going to steal it if we can't get it today."

"_Well, I can't wait!" _barked Selina._ "I need to be myself again soon, and that means tonight!"_

"What's the point of rushing…?" Diana asked absentmindedly; her fine eyebrows knitted into a knot as she read a report. She scribbled some notes before adding, "If it's your patrol, I have tried not to interfere with whatever you're doing." There was a considerable gap of silence that was rather unfamiliar for Diana, hence she asked again, "Selina?" The Amazon Ambassador frowned again and prompted, "You wish to do something that totally does not involve my presence, right?"

"_You betcha,"_ Selina finally said in a low spirit, too low for Selina Kyle that made Diana quirked again. The Amazon sighed and put her paper down.

"We both don't like what has happened to us Selina. And I'm sorry that it hinders you to do…whatever you want to do with yourself… or…others…" Diana bit her lip. "I hope we will find a way to stop encroaching on each other's privacy too."

"_Like I did with you and Tom this morning?"_ teased Selina. It was true that Tom Tresser came to see Diana for a short breakfast today, and he tried to kiss her afterwards. But Diana withdrew and smiled coyly, saying that it wasn't the right time. Fully aware that Selina was somewhere within Diana's psychic (or brain; even Bruce was not sure yet of the whereabouts of the mirror dimension), Tom resigned and left, albeit disappointingly.

Diana let the memory of her breakfast passed by before chuckling and saying, "No… it cannot be helped anyway…"

"_What's that suppose to mean?"_

"Nothing, Miss Nosy," the Amazon picked up another report. "Hey, since I have your undivided attention anyway, may I know of your opinion regarding the current women's empowerment in Afghanistan?"

"_Deflection noted, Madam Ambassador…"_

"I see that I'm not alone then. What are you up to tonight that is so secretive that you cannot share with me?" Diana's slender fingers flicked through the report. "Can't you wait until we solve this mystery?" Another silence. "Utmost top secret, is it? Very well, you will just have to do that in a few days."

"_No can do. It has to be done tonight." _Selina hesitated._ "And I know I can trust you… God, you're Wonder Woman, for crying out loud! But…I really have to do it alone."_

Diana placed her report slowly on the table. "Then, I'm truly sorry that this thing happened, Selina. I wish you could go alone tonight… but if you truly can't delay it, you have my word that I shall never let the secret out." She waited for Selina's answer inside her head, but instead she heard,

"Do you realize how weird you look and sound when you're talking to yourself like that?"

Diana turned to the voice at her door and her face beamed immediately. "Donna!"

The slender and cheerful Donna Troy walked into her office, and beamed back one of the most cheerful grins in Diana's life. "I knocked, Sister, really, but you were having… er… your Vagina Monologue."

Diana grinned back. "Cute, Donna. But Selina thinks it's not cute at all."

"So, what I've heard is true!" Donna plopped onto the nearest couch. "Rhea! When I heard about it from Dick, I almost couldn't believe it! The Wonder/Cat combo! That's too funny!" She waved her hand and bent in laughter. "Oh, by the way, sorry I couldn't come sooner. The stupid resurrected Dr. Light needed more evidence that he's way out of Titan's league now." She examined her red nails and muttered, "I broke my nails during the fight, how horrible is that?"

Placing one hand on her own hip, Diana pulled a faux sad face. " Ah that is… truly tragic… Donna. But I think acrylic nails are readily accessible nowadays. Oh, and Selina says that she knows of a great place to fix your nails in Gotham, if you want?"

"So…" Donna fixed her position. "Catwoman is really inside you?" Upon her sister's nod, she added, "We've actually never introduce ourselves properly, right?" She gave her hand for Diana to shake. "Hi Catwoman, I'm Donna Troy, formerly Wonder Girl and Troia. But you can call me just 'Donna', and I'll call you 'Selina' is that okay?"

Playing along, knowing well that it would irritate Catwoman, Diana shook Donna's hand seriously. "Hello too. Selina also wants to know whether it was me who gave her secret ID out, or one of the Gothamites."

"Oh, I got it first from Dick, of course!" Donna plopped back onto the comfortable couch and grabbed the back cushion. "He told me about your… uhm, some of your actions in Gotham and wherever."

"She thinks Dick is a leaking cauldron," Diana stifled her laughter. "She also thinks that Dick is actually very cute."

"Don't I know it…" muttered Donna. "Sometimes I just don't understand why he chooses to be single now?"

Diana suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Selina knows why… but I don't think that it's the right time to talk about it."

"_Yeah, right… what's with the truth and everything," _said Selina grumpily in Diana's head. _"I know why Dick is still single now, and you know that too, Diana. You're just too scared to tell her!" _

Diana had been wishing that she could bark back at Selina without having to talk out loud, for it would save her lots of weird looks. And now, suddenly she managed to do just that. She was just squinting and said, _"It's Donna's privacy, Selina," _when she had stunned herself and muttered out loud, "Goddess, did you hear what I just said?"

"No, I didn't," replied poor Donna, though Diana wasn't talking to her. "What did you just say? What is it that we are not to mention about Dick?"

"Sorry, Little Sister, I wasn't talking to you," smiled Diana sheepishly. "I was talking to Selina." And then, she squinted and projected her thoughts back to Selina, _"Did you hear what I said about privacy, Selina?"_

"_Yeah, are you going to lecture me now?"_

"_No, I was just wondering if you realized that I didn't say it out loud,_" Diana explained in silence._ "Did you hear it the same, or differently?"_

Selina was quite for a while before saying, _"As a matter of fact… you do sound different now. Your voice has a bit of an echo effect. Wow! If this works, you'll have to teach me how you did it so I can stop talking to myself like a stupid lunatic!"_

"_Of course. It's easy, just squint your eyes."_

"_Squint?!" cried Selina. "I'll have to squint a lot then and that's bad for my eyes!"_

"_Use the anti-wrinkle lotion," _Diana said with a bit of mirth in her internal voice. "Okay, now coming back to Dick… it's totally not any of our business to –"

"Say that he actually likes your sister as more than a friend?" to Diana's utter surprise, it was Donna speaking. The Amazon Ambassador's face became scarlet red in embarrassment for not being able to keep her thoughts to herself.

"Did you hear what I just said, Donna?" she squeaked.

" No. Just what you said about Dick's reasons not being your business," Donna shrugged. She had been watching her sister's silence for a while and had arrived at the conclusion that Diana was acting weird because she had just found a new way of communicating with the Catwoman. "Apparently you still have to control your own thoughts, Diana," Donna resumed half-amusingly. "But really, you're my sister. So what's the secret about?" She folded her hands and mused, " Is it because Selina is here with us, right?"

"_Nah, she just doesn't wanna be nosy with Sis,_" Selina echoed her thoughts again into Diana's head. "_I swear, if Donna was Maggie, I would have already told her about it ages_ _ago!_"

"I don't want to be nosy," Diana admitted. "I am not certain myself, so I don't want to tell you that…"

"…Dick might love me as more than just a friend?" Donna slowly finished her sister's sentence. She pursed her lips and added, " Di , I've known that for quite some time."

"Then…did you talk to him?" Diana started to ignore Selina in her head. Thank the Goddesses that Catwoman had become silent too; she might have realized that it was an intimate sister-to-sister talk. "Donna, you know as well as I do that Dick has loved you as a woman…for quite some time now. And he knows that too… the way I have seen both of you react to each other on some occasions… Its just that he just doesn't want to admit it, he's afraid to jeopardize your friendship."

"I know that too…" said Donna timidly before looking up and asking – just the way a little sister would ask her big sister, "What should I do then?"

It took Diana a while before reaching for her sister's hands, grasping them in her own, and saying gently, "Talk to him. Have a nice coffee together, and talk to him. Don't waste your time pretending to be what you are not. Whatever happens dearest Sister, you and Dick are eternal friends anyway. Both of you will always be friends. But perhaps… you two can also be lovers? Perhaps… you two _are_ destined to be lovers. Why not try embracing it too?"

"Because…I'm afraid?" asked Donna helplessly. "But since I have your approval, Sis… I might give it a try. Just don't be surprised if I go home crying tonight." Donna and Diana were now staying together at the Embassy, but Donna sometimes stayed overnight in her own photo studio across Manhattan.

"I won't be surprised if you don't go home at all tonight," Diana said half-jokingly. "I will divert all Titan calls to my own communicator if you want me to?"

"_Cute! What about my own patrol?!"_ Selina suddenly spoke again after a long silence.

"Nah, you have Catwoman's patrol tonight, no?" Donna grinned. "I'll be fine, Sister. I'll tell you what happens later." She hugged Diana, and suddenly remembered something, "Speaking of which, have you tried to taking your own advice, Di?"

Diana blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Your own advice," Donna shrugged. "About being honest with yourself and talking about it with you know who over coffee… and all that?" Her baby blue eyes drilled into Diana's azure eyes and found a faux blank expression. Donna Troy sighed. Diana can be very stubborn if she wanted to. "Don't you think you can escape that easily, Di!" She hugged her sister again and then walked out of the room.

"_Cute, Sister. Way to go," _said Catwoman. _"Now, can we go to the Embassy of India?"_

"We still have 1.5 hours," Wonder Woman responded. "We'll have lunch first. I'm starving."

-TBC-

_Author's Note:_

_I know that the old Amazonian Embassy was called the Embassy of Themyscira, or Themyscira House (the building). But since I think the Embassy should embrace both the Themyscirans and the Bana-Mighdallian, I took the liberty to change its name. And since dear Gail Simone established Tom (ick!) Tresser as Diana's (cough!) lover, I also used this fact as a bridge for this story-arc. I don't have to state that I'm not into Diana/Tom pairing, of course, or Diana/Selina (hehehe) for that matter._


	4. Legend of the Desert Rose

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_Rated T_

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. I don't want to even go there… it hurts my head…_

**Part 4. Legend of the Desert Rose**

"Are you alright, Wonder Woman?"

Diana looked up to see a young Indian woman dressed in chic blue _shalwar kameez _looking back at her with concern. Wonder Woman straightened up and replied with poise, "Yes, I'm alright. What's the matter?"

The young woman shook her head, a glittering _bindi_ danced on her forehead. "No, Ma'am. It's just that you've been squinting and frowning the last few minutes, I thought you might have a headache and need some medicine." She stopped for a while before adding an afterthought, "Do you ever have headache, Ma'am?"

Wonder Woman cleared her throat and said, "No, I'm perfectly alright. I'm just worried that I might be late for my other meeting if Mr. Ambassador is not available very soon."

The Indian woman nodded thoughtfully as she glanced through at her clipboard. "Well, actually I was about to tell you that Ambassador Singh apologizes for the delay, and he will be ready in 5 minutes. If you are ready Madam, I shall take you to him?"

Despite the woman's sincere attention, Diana had the urge to laugh at herself. She bit her lips, inhaled, and pretended to cough.

"_It's not funny!"_ Selina's voice was heard inside her head.

"_I never said it was," _Diana squinted again and talked to Selina silently. _"But I think I am right about not stealing the necklace and just waiting instead."_

"_Who knows if he hasn't replaced the necklace with another one?! Meanwhile, we're wasting our time here!"_

"_Have you not heard of the Lasso of Truth, Catwoman? And you owe me a Body Shop anti-wrinkle lotion." _Diana stopped squinting and addressed the Indian woman formally. "Yes, Miss, I am ready to see Mr. Ambassador." She got up, fixed her crème formal suit and Kashmir shawl and followed while ignoring Selina's internal screaming of _'You don't use the same anti-wrinkle lotion as me?! I use Estee Lauder's!'_

-xxx-

Deputy Chief of Mission, Ambassador Arun K Singh had known that his new position as chargé d'affaires ad interim would not be as easy as it looked. He was in charge as the ad interim Ambassador until the arrival of new Ambassador Mme. Meera Shankar, and he was hoping to run a peaceful transition for the few months until she arrived. That hope was somehow shattered when the exquisite jewels of India were stolen two nights ago at the New York UNESCO charity. The fact that Batman had retrieved all jewels safely did almost nothing to reduce his anxiety of what Mme. Shankar would think of his performance and tenure.

That was the reason why he was not so enthusiastic when Wonder Woman submitted a formal request to 'borrow' the ruby-studded necklace for investigative purposes. Would there be any guarantees that the necklace would return safely? His sudden cold had been an excellent excuse to buy him sometime to rethink of the matter; whether he would just give Wonder Woman a firm 'no' and bid her 'good day'.

That hope was somewhat shattered again when he saw the Amazonian Ambassador entered his office just now. Wearing a simple crème suit and beautifully embroidered Kashmir shawl, Wonder Woman looked very poise and elegant, and Arun Singh felt his determination sinking a few inches deeper.

Still, he tried to find a leeway.

"With all due respect, Madam Ambassador," said he as he fixed his spectacles. "You are very aware of the importance of the necklace to my country? It is of course not Koh-i-noor, but it is very historical nonetheless."

Wonder Woman nodded respectfully. "Coming from an age-old civilization myself, I have high respect of your millennia-old history, Singh-ji," she said as her hands fixed the sliding Kashmir shawl. "Had it not been for the fact that a very powerful sorceress aims to obtain the necklace – unlikely for charitable purposes – I would not be so adamant in my request." She had to quickly squint again as she internally said a _'No Way' _to Selina who had just said _'Told ya! Let's go with the robbery plan!'_

Luckily Ambassador Singh did not notice the squint (or if he did, he didn't see it as a threat), for he clearly was busy with his mind for a while. "I have very high respect for you too and of your skills, Madam Ambassador. But what if you cannot safeguard the necklace? We almost lost it two nights ago. What if the necklace is truly stolen this time?"

"Again, I have to apologize for our lack of security measures that night, Mr. Ambassador. Batman and I are together on this case, and I have his firm word that he will guard the necklace with his life; knowing how low Morgaine le Fay can stoop down, we will leave nothing to chance." Diana leaned back in her chair, remembering something. "Speaking of Morgaine, there is a question I have been wanting to ask you, Sir?"

Ambassador Singh stapled his fingers into a triangle in front of his mouth. "Yes?"

"Do you know of any stories, legends, or any whispers at all about the necklace? We believe that the necklace has magical properties, and that is the very reason of Morgaine's robbery attempt that night."

"_Lemme guess? For world domination?"_ Selina's quirky voice was heard in Diana's head, she chose not to squint this time.

Mr. Singh exhaled as his dark eyes drilled into Diana's blue eyes. "I was hoping that we would not need to talk about this, Madam. Are you sure you want to know?" Upon Diana's solemn nod, he resumed. "This may sound very silly…or romantic, depending on your viewpoint."

"I will take the second one any time of day," smiled Diana as she prepared herself. "Do tell, Sir."

-xxx-

"So, you finally got it!"

Diana turned to see a puff of smoke materializing two feet above her. Zatanna, Mistress of Magic was floating in the sky of Montrose Park by the Massachusetts Avenue. The soft river breeze played with Wonder Woman's raven hair as she smiled. "I see you are ready to retrieve it. What news from the other shore, Zatanna? Of Dr. Fate, perhaps?"

"I bring you words of the Mage, O Princess," Zee joked as she landed next to Diana. "He also agreed that the necklace has magical values. He has a theory, but I presume that you've known…by the look of it."

"We do know much more than that now…" Diana admitted. She squinted before adding, "Selina wants to talk to you directly."

Zee understood as she made a wiping gesture, chanted _'Rorrim raeppa'_ and smiled in satisfaction as a life-sized mirror appear in front of them. Zatanna also chanted _elpoep erongi' _as an extra security measure; this charm made passerby in the park ignore the strange scene of two female metahumans looking and talking to a mirror. She finally grinned to the Catwoman who just appeared in the life-sized mirror.

"How is it Sel? Managed to avoid any mirrors in the Embassy of India? You girls didn't give the Ambassador a heart attack and then took the necklace from him right?"

"That would be much easier," snorted Selina as she took off her cowl and goggles and scratched her hair. "Diana had to casually speed up whenever she passed by any reflective surfaces… and once she even had to cover her head with her shawl! Lucky no one saw the black leather costume beneath the large shawl. Hey, by the way, why do I always end up with my Catwoman costume, even if I was spinning with a dress?"

"That also happened to me, I always end up with my costume, no matter what I wore before. I guess it's because we were wearing our costumes when we touched the necklace together," Diana offered in explanation. "It's not so inconvenient anyway…"

Catwoman shrugged before addressing Zatanna. "So, you wanna know what happened?" She resumed as Zee nodded. "Have you ever heard about the Legend of the Desert Rose?"

Zee blinked twice. "Eh… are you talking about Sting's old song?"

"Cute, Zee!" Selina growled.

"Desert Rose was the moniker of an ancient Indian princess," Diana helped. "A queen, to be exact. Desert Rose was also known as Queen Jodha, the most beloved wife of Akbar the Great, a.k.a. Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar from the Moghul Dynasty, circa mid 16th century."

Zee's blank expression invited another sigh from Selina. "Zee, you really have to polish your international history lessons."

"I don't think you knew about this Rose either before today, Sel!" Zee glared back to Selina. "Look, Diana, why don't you just say it out loud, what's it all about with this Rose?"

"I thought Dr. Fate knew something about the necklace, and he told you about it earlier?" Selina attempted another argument.

"Not about the history behind the necklace. Just a hunch from him," Zatanna shrugged. "But I want to hear the story first. So, what happened to Jodha? Did she kill herself?"

"Nothing of sort," Diana said quickly. "Akbar the Great truly loved and adored her, and she lived a considerably happy life. But she also lived in a Moslem palace, and as a minority Hindu believer at that time, she had to find a balance between her husband's Moslem faith and her own. She often asked Lord Krishna – that was her personal deity – to help her build the bridges."

"The legend also said that Akbar once gave Jodha a very large, lovely ruby brooch as a token of his love," Selina added. "Later on, this ruby was also called 'Desert Rose', the same moniker as the wearer. Because Jodha was very much in love with her hubby, she often placed Desert Rose on her altar as she prayed for better bridges between her husband's world and her own."

Zatanna quirked. "Lemme guess… Jodha's incessant prayers then finally charged the ruby with magical properties?"

Diana nodded. "The legend has it that whenever there are quarrels in the palace, Jodha would appear with her ruby brooch and it was easier to obtain peace once more when she was present. Many people thought that it was the ruby that gave her the very special power. Others thought that Queen Jodha's love for interfaith harmony and building bridges among her people were the main factor for her status as a pacifier. Of course, Sultan Akbar was a very tolerant and great king as well, so they were indeed a match made in heaven."

Zee sighed dreamily. "How sweet… Now how did the brooch become the necklace?"

"Akbar thought that Jodha would look lovelier with more sets of ruby, so he gave her that overwhelming necklace. Because Jodha liked the old ruby brooch so much, she asked for it to be merged together with the necklace. She often placed the necklace on the altar and wore it during hours of crisis."

"I see…." Zee said almost to herself. "That clicks with what Fate told me." To the floating question marks above Diana's head, she explained that "the necklace used to be worn by a very important woman who held the key to peace during her time. That would be your Queen Jodha then."

Selina decided to probe more. "So, why did Morgaine look for this necklace? She definitely doesn't want peace out of it!"

"Good question," Zee acted as if she was Selina's teacher. "Apparently, the necklace – or shall I say the ruby itself – has the power to bridge differences… or to create cracks and havoc if fallen into the hands of Morgaine and the like –"

"Ha! Thought so!" Catwoman made her eureka as Diana snorted.

" – If combined with Koh-i-noor," was Zatanna's finished sentence that made both women in front of her looked incredulously at her.

"Wait…" Wonder Woman held one hand up. "Did you just say 'Koh-i-noor'?" Koh-i-noor, or 'Mountain of Light' is the legendary diamond that used to be worn by various rulers of India before it was seized by the colonial East Indies Company and brought to London by the end of 19th century. The famous diamond is now stored inside the Tower of London.

"I did, Madame," Zee grinned; obviously she enjoyed the chaos she caused after delivering the last piece of information. "Koh-i-noor is very famous for bringing troubles and violence… or at least bad luck to its wearer. Hence, combining it with Desert Rose will definitely make the ruby's power destructive."

"You're kidding, right?" Catwoman still didn't believe her. "Wait…Koh-i-noor is stored inside the Tower of London." Upon Zatanna's satisfying 'mm-hmmm', she resumed. "You're saying that Morgaine also planned to attack the Tower of London?!"

"I've alerted Bruce about it," Zatanna said, freely using Batman's real ID for she knew no one would be able to take a sneak peek into her magical shield. "He's looking into it right now."

"Don't I know it," muttered Selina who then suddenly changed her posture. "Hey! Does this mean that we're going to London to solve the riddle? Oh boy! I have always wanted to go to London again!"

"Not so fast, Catwoman," grinned Diana. "Who knows maybe we could actually solve the riddle here without having to go to London?"

Selina groaned. "Come on, Wonder Woman, you're no fun! I haven't been to London for a while, and I can do more shopping there! Besides, with your Justice League teleportation or your flying ability, I can save loads of airfare going there!"

"That's a good one," chuckled Zatanna, starting to enjoy the strange interaction between the two women in front of her (well, one was inside the mirror, actually). "I have to go now, gimme the necklace. Dr. Fate wants to examine it on his own." She received a black box that Diana fished out of her crème suit pocket and opened it. The overwhelming gold necklace with strings of rubies greeted her. The largest ruby reflected the afternoon sun of Washington D.C. in a surreal way.

"So… this large one is the original Desert Rose?" As she never laid her eyes upon the legendary necklace, Zatanna's awe was very palpable.

Diana nodded. "But I'm not sure if other, smaller rubies do not posses magical properties."

"Doesn't matter, Fate should know about it." The Mistress of Magic sensed the largest ruby with one of her hand hovering over it. "Such power… such energy… no wonder Morgaine le Fay wants it so much. If I have my say, I bet that the largest one stores the largest magical properties. The smaller ones might, but not as much as the Desert Rose."

"Please let us know the moment Fate knows how to make us two again," Selina begged with all her heart. "I really wanna see my own reflection when I walk pass mirrors, stained glasses and even puddles!"

Zatanna grinned. "I actually enjoyed seeing you trapped like this, Selina…" and ignoring Catwoman's cursing glance at her, she added innocently, "Oh, and the three of us going to London might not be a bad idea, actually. On Bruce's expense, of course!"

That notion invited healthy belly laughter from Diana who had to double bend to accommodate her mirth, while Selina just pretended to think as she mentioned several nice hotels in the heart of London that Bruce could definitely afford easily. Zee grinned again.

"I trust Wonder Woman is the best messenger for our plan? Meanwhile, I shall puff out and see if Fate is still on the plane I left him in earlier. As you all know, he's a bit hard to catch." She wiped the mirror out of existence, letting Catwoman merging with Wonder Woman again, lifted her ignorance spell (so that passerby now could admire Wonder Woman in civvies talking to Zatanna the magician), and teleported out of sight in a thick cloud of smoke.

"She really needs to consider her carbon footprint with her teleportation… who knows what all that magical smoke could do to the environment?" Diana mused to herself. Selina didn't say anything though. She let Diana take off into the blue sky towards New York, solemnly feeling the rush of wind that played on Diana's long hair. It was a while later, but when Diana finally forgot that Selina was somewhere inside her head, the uninvited mental guest spoke again.

"_So… it's almost time to prepare my patrol." _Upon Diana's confirming nod, she said again, _"You really wanna know what I shall do tonight?"_

"We have no choice, don't we?" Diana chose to speak out loud, lest she would need more anti-wrinkle cream later. Silence again before Selina replied,

"_Promise you will shut up and you won't interfere with my private business? Or else, Wonder Woman or not, I shall hunt you down and break your leg."_

"I promise," said Diana solemnly. Catwoman was quiet for the rest of the journey, and Wonder Woman didn't mind at all.

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_Sorry that I made it so long to finish this one, almost a month! I thank my friends and readers who have been patiently waiting so far… particularly my beta Hepburn and Chaosmob, the author of Switcheroo. You guys also have to check his story out in the Justice League Animated section, it's a great story with similar concept to mine, but not really the same. His is one with switch body, i.e. Selina inhabiting Diana's body and vice versa. Mine is sharing body, with two minds._

_I also have to credit the legend of Jodha and Akbar. Learned about them for the first time from the 2008 'Jodha-Akbar' Bollywood movie. Aishwarya Rai and Hritik Roshan delivered great performance there! But there is no such legend Desert Rose; I just made it up based on Sting's old song, so don't sue me! And although the Koh-i-noor presence in the Tower of London is true, its link with Desert Rose is of course totally made up. Come to think of it, there is a YouTube video of Aishwarya Rai with Sting's 'Desert Rose' song as the song theme. Talking about coincidence._

_Oh, and Deputy Chief of Mission, Ambassador Arun K Singh is (was) really the chargé d'affaires ad interim for the Embassy of India for the U.S.A. until the arrival of new Ambassador Mme. Meera Shankar this May. Google helps a lot._


	5. Secret of the Cat

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_Rated T_

_Disclaimer: All major characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. Chapter 5. Catwoman's secret. And the Greatest Detective has great luck!_

**Part 5. Secret of the Cat**

The abandoned warehouse looked spooky for the passerby homeless who sometimes mingled outside the wrecked building. Not because of the ghosts, demons or hellish creatures of childhood tales… no, old George the homeless knew better. The warehouse received its frightening status because it was often frequented by people of the dark 'underworld' of Gotham, a.k.a. the mobsters and the mafias. Now and then, several people would come with black expensive cars, dragging one or two men (or sometimes women) with them. The victims rarely came out alive; and if they did, they would certainly have permanent damage to their bodies.

They never hurt old George though. They only saw him as a drunken old man who usually slumped and slept outside one of the rear windows when no one was around; or at least when he thought no one was around. George would whimper and usher himself away when the mob dragged and did whatever heinous torture to their victims; but when they left he would go back and resume his sleeping there. No other homeless was as oblivious as George. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to live anymore or maybe it was because he didn't care about whatever happened in this world, because the world did not care about him?

This time though, there was a single black car skidded outside the rear parking area and three people in black suits emerged from the car, George knew that at least tonight would be a peaceful night for him. They didn't drag anyone from the car. George coughed a bit, but he wasn't that worried. He was certain that he could resume his sleep undisturbed.

Boy, was he wrong. For only a few minutes after the mobsters entered the warehouse and lit their cigars (and George was about to find a better position to sleep on his newspaper bed), he heard a faint thud, a squeak, and a bang and then a punch, and another thud and a whimper. Judging from the voice he heard, George knew that it was Tiger, the biggest guy in the group who almost cried. Curiosity took its toll as George rose from his temporary shelter and peeked through the cracked and dusty window.

He saw a slim shadow hovering over the cowering image of Tiger. He then heard Tiger whimpering again, saying "Whaddya want from me?! It's my boss you're looking for. Benini is not here, man!"

"I know that!" a female voice hissed at Tiger to shut up. "I don't need to see him now; but I need to tell him this. There has been a problem in the charity. The Rose will be delivered in three days. Meanwhile, he must not hurt Ashton at all. If he hurts him, just remember what happened to Black Mask."

"That's… that's a very long message Miss…"

"I know you can't remember that, idiot!" that voice hissed again. "That's why I give you this letter." George heard paper rustling. "Give it to Benini, and tell him not to find me. I will find him."

George heard Tiger gulping. "Okay-okay-okay…now will you let me go?"

There was a very satisfying tone in the woman's voice as she said, "But of course, I will." Next was another – very loud – punch, and George saw Tiger's large frame thumping to the floor. The old man was thinking he should just go now while the woman was busy and didn't pay attention to him; her punches sounded like hell, but at the same time, the slim dark figure turned towards him, and George could see the dangerous flashes of big green eyes; too big for human eyes. Poor George was too shock to see the woman; he forgot to muffle his coughs. He coughed out loud and gasped, turned away from the window, and ran away as fast as he could.

Not fast enough evidently, for suddenly the woman was already in front of him. The old man skidded to a stop. In a glance, he saw who was in front of him; a slim woman clad in black leather cat suit, holding a whip on her hand. The famous Catwoman. Smiling – or was that smirking – at him. No one knew if she was good or bad; there were too many stories circulating about her. George was sure of one thing though; she delivered mean punches. He sighed and closed his eyes, preparing for a punch from her. Would it crack his old skull?

Nothing happened though.

George opened his eyes to see no one in front of him. He looked back and forth and still couldn't find Catwoman. He snorted, looked down, and saw a bundle of money next to his feet; weighted with a stone.

$450 it was. George couldn't believe his eyes. He counted again and again, and still came to the same conclusion. Catwoman just delivered him $450 fresh cash. He was stunned. He choked, coughed several times… and finally, after swallowing his tears back, he smiled.

His only daughter had been living in the East End red district for years now, with his only grandson. Perhaps the money could be sent to Theresa… she might like it. She might be able to buy her son something…

Come to think of it, he could take them to a nice dinner too….

-xxx-

"_That was very nice of you."_

Catwoman's gaze was still fixed at a certain building in front of her; uninterrupted by the voice in her head. It was a very clear starry night in one of the most expensive suburbs in Gotham; but she wasn't paying attention to the stars either. She moved out from the shadows of the rooftop she was standing on and started to walk towards the edge of the roof.

"_That was very nice of you, giving the old man all the money," _Diana repeated from inside Selina's head. _"He was clearly very grateful when he found the money."_

Silence reigned for a while before Catwoman replied, without squinting. "He…he has lung cancer, advanced stages. He has only a few weeks to live." When Diana said nothing, she added, "Heard it from Leslie Thompkins who treated him once after one of her volunteers found him unconscious a few months ago. The old man didn't want any treatments though, even if he didn't have to pay for it. He has no hopes in his life."

"_Many people live like that in this world. It's so sad."_

"I know." Catwoman shifted her position; now she sat on a gargoyle, hugging herself. "I also know that you promised not to make any comments about my mission tonight."

"_I didn't recall making that promise. I did promise that I wouldn't make any bad comments and interfere on whatever you do. But this one was a compliment, in case you cannot tell."_

"I can. I just want you to shut up and leave me alone."

"_So you can resume watching your building over there? Who's there? Your guy Ashton?"_

"You're breaking the promise, Wonder Woman."

Inside the bubble dimension, Diana grinned. _"Case in the point. I will shut up."_

"Good."

-xxx-

It was another hour before the lights inside a room in the building that Catwoman spied on were lit. The Feline Fatale tensed ever so slightly as she craned her neck, in want of a better view from inside the room.

A man of forty came with a slender, attractive woman…toting a toddler. The man said something that Catwoman could not hear, hence – impatiently – she rummaged through her belt to retrieve an earpiece and listened from the bug she had planted earlier on the window with an air gun.

"…very nice Disney-on-Ice, though I prefer watching it in Disneyland than in Gotham," the woman said. "The ambience didn't fit."

"But our sweet pumpkin liked it, didn't she? You loved the show, didn't you sweetheart?"

Then, the voice of a sweet little girl. "…loved it a lot Mommy… but am sleepy now…"

"S'about time, if you ask me," said the dad. "Look what time it is! She has past her bed time two hours ago!"

The little girl again. "…but I wanna see the stars… Daddy…"

"See?" the woman chuckled. "She always does that at home, she would want to do that this time." To her daughter she said, "Gotham is not like home, sugar pie… There we can always see stars. Not here, though."

The little girl still persisted though, so her parents took her to the balcony. The mother sang a lovely lullaby while the little girl desperately tried to see the stars. When there were no stars to be found, she gave up and started to flutter her little eyes. It was another ten minutes before she slept, but finally the woman sighed in relieve.

"She truly enjoyed the evening, didn't she Arnold?"

"Very much," Arnold agreed. "Though I don't think we should repeat this often, Marie… not good for Helena."

"We can't let her stay in the hotel alone, though. God knows what these people can do to us. They have enough evil to kidnap her!" When her husband didn't say anything, she spoke again. "Have you… gathered enough so far?"

Arnold sighed and shook his head. "Not barely a quarter. I'm afraid we're running late, Marie."

"But we can't let them hurt Ashton anymore! He's suffered enough!"

Her husband shushed her. "I know that, baby. I've been trying hard with all meetings in this gritty city to help him… but I don't –"

Marie was quick to stop him. "Don't say you don't know. Please, don't." She sighed and massaged her neck. "Say that we will find a way."

"You want to hear me saying those lies again?" Arnold quirked his eyebrows at her.

"It helps. And it's been more than two days, and they haven't contacted us again. I fear… I fear that we might be too late…Should we contact them tomorrow?"

It was a while before Arnold sighed and agreed. "But we must sleep now. I barely can keep my eyes open. Tomorrow… we'll deal with it tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow then," said Marie with sadness and love in her eyes. She kissed her husband slowly as she said, "We'll deal with it tomorrow."

-xxx-

"I suppose I cannot ask you what that was about."

"You're so damned right."

"You want me to guess?"

"You never need my permission anyway –" Catwoman turned, "– Batman."

"You're putting her in danger, Catwoman."

"You did that too, by stopping me from stealing the necklace."

"I didn't know your motive, Selina."

"How surprising, Bruce. And this is from the World's Greatest Detective?" Catwoman tilted her goggled head to examine the Dark Knight who had been standing behind her for a while. "Not that you know, would you have let me steal it anyway?"

"You're right; I wouldn't."

"See? What's the point then?" She turned away from the Bat to face the hotel room across the street again. The light was off; the family had gone to sleep. She didn't turn away just to observe the room, though. It was her tears that she didn't want the Batman to see.

Yet, he knew anyway.

"It's okay to cry, Selina." When she said nothing, Batman reached for her slender shoulder, attempting to sooth her. Unsurprisingly, she avoided his touch.

"Stay away, Bruce. If you can't protect us both, then I have to do that myself."

"That's not fair, Selina. You know that Helena's safety is my priority."

"Oh yeah?" Catwoman turned to face him again, this time without hiding her glistening eyes. "Then how come you did nothing when Marie's brother got messed up with the mob?! Benini, of all people?! Shouldn't you have done a background check or something before you let them adopt Helena?!"

"Ashton was her half-brother; didn't even show up until two years ago," Batman was still patiently trying to explain. "When I knew about it, it was too late. Augusto Benini already got him indebted." When Catwoman scoffed and turned away again, he still resumed. "I know you've been tailing them since last year, Catwoman; since you found out that Arnold and Marie Atkinson were the couple who adopted Helena. But I didn't do anything, because it was your right."

"Damned right, it IS my right," spat Selina. She sighed and continued with a softer tone. "I'm her mother, Bruce. You knew that eventually I would violate my own words and come looking for her. Up to the wilderness of Star City. Just to know that she was alright."

"Until you found out that Benini got Ashton with him. You then approached Benini, trying to get the teenager off his tentacles; knowing well that Marie _and_ Helena had grown quite attached to him. The Desert Rose was the price, for even Benini knows how priceless it is in the underground market."

Catwoman scoffed again. "I would do the same to Holly and Karon. Helena was quite fond of them, if you remember."

"But this time it's different, Selina," Bruce's tone grew more imperative. "Don't you know what kind of danger you impose on her with you showing up like this? Do you think Benini will not question your motives?"

"I've given him a very convincing story."

"Of you having met Ashton's mother and promising to protect him?!" Batman couldn't believe that Catwoman didn't even budge. So the rumors from the underground were correct; Catwoman's safety net started to slip off. "Is this coming from you who usually could make up a much smarter alibi?! Don't you think that Benini has been doing background checks now on the Atkinsons?! I had to get my lawyers to make additional documents to cover up!"

"Well, you should!" Catwoman launched her tirade. "You're Helena's godfather, you promised to protect her!"

Batman opened up to speak, but then thought better of it. He was silent for a while before nodding. "You're right. I failed her. I failed you."

But that didn't calm the Catwoman. "Exactly! You failed us, Bruce. You said that you would always monitor her safety. But what happened?! You disappeared! Into the Stone Age whatever! I had to cover for you and Gotham; and that cut off my time for Helena's surveillance. When you returned back to Gotham, guess what?! The city was safe and sound, thanks to me almost killing myself to protect it everyday. But what did I find?!" She stepped closer to the Batman who didn't flinch.

"You changed. The person who said that he loved me back at the hospital after my heart surgery… he's gone. You changed into this – I don't even know what to say – guy who does greater good without forgetting his inner journey whatever. Gotham comes first, as long as it doesn't take your soul away. Inner journey my ass! You abandoned me and Helena, you prevented me from helping her family, and now you come here to lecture me to calm down?! Well, you know what, Bruce?" Catwoman slapped Batman hard with one hand. "Back off."

Still, the Dark Knight didn't budge an inch. He looked at the Feline Fatale with regrets. "I'm sorry I went away. I'm sorry I left you to look after Helena alone. I'm –"

He forgot what he wanted to say, for suddenly Catwoman grabbed his cape and kissed him hard. French style. With tongue. Clearly, it was a very passionate, longing kiss that she had reserved for a long time, waiting for release. After a few moments of shock, reluctance, and merely letting her kissing him, Bruce found his hands cupping Selina's face and kissed her back. He grunted when he felt her arching her back, her claws hurting his arms. His brain simply refused to send signals to his hands to let go of his grips on her back. When he heard her moans, he felt involuntary reactions in his lower body part. Bruce sighed and grabbed Selina closer to his tense body, once more responding her hot and frantic kisses with his own.

Their kisses would definitely lasted longer had Batman's Justice League communicator not gone off, emitting Oracle's electronic voice.

"_Batman, red alert in Gotham."_

The Dark Knight's brain flicked back into action that moment. He disentangled himself from Catwoman and answered back. "Location? Send Robin and Batgirl if their position is closer."

"_Negative, B. It's an airplane mechanical problem over Gotham. The airbus is approaching the airport with left wing on fire. We need a Meta here. Flash and Superman are busy in Central Africa." _Oracle stopped for a second before resuming imperatively, _"We need Wonder Woman."_

Knowing that Oracle was well aware of the body-share between Wonder Woman and Catwoman, and that she would have monitored Catwoman's position to know Wonder Woman's whereabouts, Batman nodded. "Agreed. I will ask her immediate assistance. Batman out." As soon as he disconnected himself from Oracle, he addressed Catwoman, almost beseechingly.

"Airplane emergency over Gotham airport, left wing on fire. We need her, Selina."

Selina was still panting; her breath was so irregular that she almost could not speak. She wiped her wet lips and finally said in hoarse voice, "We will talk about this later."

Although uncertain with what Catwoman meant by 'this', Batman nodded again. "Wonder Woman now, Catwoman. The airplane can't wait."

Catwoman pursed her still wet lips; her expression was unreadable. She spun reluctantly and dissolved herself in a blinding light that eventually revealed Wonder Woman.

A shaky, flushed and heavily gasping Wonder Woman with red face and messy hair that anyone who saw her would think she had just flown Earth-Sun several times. She wasn't even making eye contact with the Batman, as if shy of something.

It took Batman a few seconds to register the possible reason for Wonder Woman displaying an out-of-character, school-girl attitude in front of him. Stunned over his own theory, he stumbled on his own words. "Wonder Woman…you heard…the plane. Gotham airport…now?"

When Wonder Woman heard the word 'plane', she blinked her glassy eyes and seemed to find herself in the real world again. Almost sensually, she tucked a lock of her damp hair, nodded, mumbled words unintelligible even to herself, and took off to the Gotham airport with the speed of Hermes.

Leaving the Batman alone, pondering his luck in kissing the world's two most gorgeous women at the same time. He tentatively touched his own lips and whispered, "Take care, Diana…"

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_Sorry it took me so long to Chapter 5; I've been busy with stuff! So thanks a lot to the readers and friends who are still here to read this arc. My deep condolence to the victims and family of victims of Air France 447 over the Atlantic recently… I wish Wonder Woman would be able to save them, but sadly, that would never be the case in our real world._

_I'm not sure if Bruce Wayne is truly Helena Kyle's godfather, but since he set aside a large sum of money for Helena's education etc, I assume god-fatherhood would be the normal thing to follow. And I honestly don't know how Batman would come back from the Stone Age and how he would be by then, but I don't care. DC continuity is a mess at the moment, I don't even want to know about it._

_Oh, and WW#32 presents me with a great great spoilers here! Diana said to Tom that she never loved him! Well, she needed him to repopulate Themyscira, but still…NOT love! Heheheh! _


	6. Doubts and Headache

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_Rated T_

_Disclaimer: All major characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. Chapter 6. Diana has doubts, Bruce has headache._

**Part 6. Doubts and Headache  
**

Diana closed her eyes and parted her lips ever so slightly; letting his tongue entered and explored her mouth expertly. Tentatively, she kissed him back and sighed heavenly as she felt his tongue find another target: the curves of her neck. Cupping his head and caressing his thick hair, she arched her back as one of his muscular hands traced the small on her back, making her body tingle with pleasure.

It had been a while since their first and only kiss during the Obsidian Age, and Bruce Wayne still had that within him that made her Amazonian body shivered in delight and her woman's soul scream for more. She pulled him towards her heated body and was about to whisper his name when the lasso attached on her hip started to twitch, delivering uncomfortable burning sensation to her skin. She considered disengaging her lasso, but then thought better of it.

Diana of Themyscira slowly opened her glazed eyes and found…

Not Bruce Wayne, but Tom Tresser looking at her, a bit confused.

"What's wrong, Di?"

Telling her boyfriend that her lasso burned her because she imagined kissing another man while he was kissing her was certainly not a wise thing to do, even for Wonder Woman, former Goddess of Truth. And despite her discomfort in lying, lie she did.

"I just remembered that I need to finish this document before –" Diana cleared her throat. "…lunch time. So perhaps we have to cut the breakfast short."

Tom's baby blue eyes could not hide his disappointment. "Again, Madam Ambassador? I thought you said that there was no deadline this morning. That's why we had the breakfast."

_Yes, except that we then kissed I thought of Bruce instead of you_, screamed Diana guiltily to herself. But to Tom, she just delivered one of her best assuring smile and said, "Well, we know that I'm not perfect. I can forget things too…" _For example, that it is you here with me instead of Bruce…_ But of course Diana did not say that either.

Tom raked his own hair and exhaled desperately. "You do realize that we only saw each other like…twice the last few days? Including this half breakfast?" He saw Diana guiltily glancing at the half eaten breakfast in front of them, but he ignored her. "I miss you Diana! But you haven't called or talked or text… sometimes I felt that I'm being a single player here, instead of a couple!"

"I'm so very sorry Tom… but this case –"

"Is not finished yet, very important dadada…yadda yadda yadda…" Tom sighed and leaned forward, definitely unromantically. "Look, this Catwoman fiasco is working my nerves already, so can't those magi people do something about it?!"

Diana twitched a little before saying, "Catwoman officially launches a protest; it's not supposed to be called the 'Catwoman fiasco'. And Zatanna and Dr. Fate are working on it as we speak."

Tom didn't budge an inch. "Well, I for one definitely wanna say this to Selina, so she better listen! She should've never stolen the necklace in the first place. She should have stayed in the East End, robbing Gotham Museum, the Mayor's house or even Bruce Wayne's if she needed to, but she should: STAY OUT OF NEW YORK!"

Two days ago, Diana would have agreed with Tom's statements. But now, after what she saw last night about Helena, she perfectly understood what drove Selina to do what she had done. In her place, Diana would have too. _No… Not in her place, I would never let go of my daughter in the first place_, thought Diana sadly, and then frowned when she heard Catwoman yelling in her head.

"Yes, I know that is not fair for Tom to say that to you, Selina, so could you please lower your tone? My head hurts again and it doesn't help the case." And to Tom who was clearly felt abandoned, she added, "She has her reasons, Tom. It was not an ordinary robbery. There are extenuating circumstances"

Tom didn't believe his ears. "So you approved of what she did?!"

"No. I believe there is another way. But it doesn't mean that I don't understand." Diana got up and fixed her cotton dress before adding, "We might have to go to London soon."

"For this…" Tom struggled to find an alternative for 'fiasco'. "…Business?" When he saw Diana merely nodded and prepared to leave the Embassy's kitchen table (meaning, she also wanted him to pack and go), he tentatively added, "I suppose I can't come with you to London?"

It made Diana stopped in her place. "Thomas…it will be awkward…"

"Don't call me that, Di, you make me feel like I am facing your mother."

"Well, it doesn't change the fact that it would make things uncomfortable…"

"With Catwoman in your head?" Tom folded his hands, clearly getting pissed off. "Can't she just ignore whatever we're talking about and go find Alice in Wonderland?"

"Sadly, it is not that simple." Diana would never tell Tom that the complication was not only a Selina Kyle, but also a certain Bruce Wayne.

Tom sighed. "So I guess, I just have to think positively? That you'll be mine again after you and Selina split off?" Unexpectedly, he chuckled to himself. "Geez…I sound like I am talking like you are divorcing Selina! Some of your online fans would be happy to read that gossip!"

Diana preferred not to stifle her laughter. Sometimes, Tom could be very funny indeed. He could make friendly conversations despite his harsh comments. She remembered why she liked him in the first place and laughed merrily. That alone brought out the sun and stars in Tom's face. He smiled and held her, but then pondered why Diana didn't hold him back.

"It's Selina, isn't it?" When Diana nodded, he added, "Well, you better go to London soon and finish whatever it is there. Come back alone and mine." He leaned to kiss his girlfriend, a French kiss no less, took his jacket and left the room.

It was good that he didn't look back. For he would have found Diana leaning at the edge of the kitchen table, gazing at the floor.

It was a very well exercised French kiss, but for Diana, it felt almost like nothing.

-xxx-

"_You have to admit he's a good kisser, Di." _

"Is that an attempt for insult, Catwoman? For I assure you I do not need it at this moment."

Selina chuckled._ "Are you nuts?! Why do I need to insult you? I merely make an observation. A __**purrrsonal**__ in-depth observation, if I might add." _She purred the word 'personal', and she purred again even deeper for she knew Diana could hear it.

"I have no time for this." Diana left the Embassy kitchen. The grandfather clock chimed eight times as she passed it to go upstairs.

"_Yeah, deadlines, right? On what again, sorry?" _When Diana didn't reply, Selina sighed, almost leisurely. _"He's really a good kisser, Diana. Remember, I can feel whatever the sensations your body feels. And I feel good! Excited! You should really do that often with him! Or do you want some tips from the expert?"_

Diana could almost see Selina licking her own claws inside her head, yet she suppressed the wish to kick that Feline Fatale in the butt (not that she could do that anyway). "After kissing Batman last night, I would expect you to stick to the Gothamites instead," Diana was quick to retort, but she immediately regretted her quick tongue. "I mean… it's my business with Tom. I would appreciate your not interfering with it, Selina."

"_Like you didn't interfere with my business with Bruce last night?"_ It was true that after Diana averted the airplane disaster above the Gotham airport, she just flew back to the same rooftop she had left Batman earlier. She didn't find the Dark Knight of course, nor did she attempt to contact him. Instead, she spun back and let Catwoman do her surveillance over toddler Helena until about 3:30a.m. Diana said no single word about Catwoman kissing Batman, not until now.

"I said nothing about you kissing Bruce."

"_That's exactly the point!" _Diana almost could feel Selina jumping in her head._ "You said NOTHING! You, the WonderBoss who always has something to say; you didn't say anything about me kissing the Batman! Your Justice League partner!"_

"Your business. And I assume you've done that often anyway." Diana maintained an elegant tone as she walked into her office, but Selina knew better.

"_I know you wanna say something."_

"Of course. That I'm late with the deadline and I need to submit the Justice League report to UN by lunch time." _What a lie. The deadline is next week, the same hour. Two lies in a morning. You're indeed an inspiration, Diana._

"_You're such a bad liar," _Selina purred happily.

"What is it that you want, Selina?" Diana opened her Mac ibook while sincerely praying to Athena that Darkseid or some other lunatic would just attack New York to stop Selina from talking about this particular…subject.

"_I want your honesty, former Goddess of Truth," _Catwoman stated innocently. _"I felt excited when Tom kissed you just now. Did you feel the same too?" _When Diana said nothing, she decided to help._ "Or just for clarification sake, did you feel excited the way you felt it when I kissed Bruce last night?"_

Wonder Woman swore that she would have strangled Catwoman alive with her bare hands had that cat burglar appear in front of her instead of in her head. But that was not the case, so she pulled a 'Batman' on Catwoman. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

_"That's Bruce's line, so you can't use it. Find your own words, Princess." _Selina purred again, clearly enjoying the game. _"Or perhaps you want to know where I got the hints from?"_

"If it pleases you," Diana chose to ignore Selina. Instead, she tried to find the Justice League report file on her computer, which alas decided to hide itself from the agitated Madam Ambassador. She pressed the little apple symbol to find the bloody file and opened it immediately once she found it. She then gasped and attempted to close the file again, but it was too late. Catwoman's very purr filled voice echoed again.

"_Deadline next week, same hour. How verrrry honest of you, Madam."_

Admitting defeat, Diana shrugged. "So? Like you're always honest yourself anyway."

"_Case in the point, Di. So, you wanna know the hints?"_

"Pray tell," Diana spoke in between her gritting teeth, her fingers furiously typed big buzzwords at the report.

"_First. You had a maximum of minute in front of Batman last night after I spun, and I felt an instant leap just because of your heartbeat, also on the way to the airport to catch the plane. Just a minute or two, but your heart was drumming madly." _

"It was your own heart beat you felt, Madam, for your kissing the Batman." Diana smiled in victory. "Next."

"_No way! I can't feel my heartbeat when I'm inside your head, remember? I can feel what you feel instead. Hey, stop biting your own lips. It hurts!"_

"Serves you right, spying on me!"

"_I didn't spy. I observed, actively," _Catwoman chuckled and resumed._ "Oh, and I've flown with you several times when you were handling crisis Diana, but your heart didn't drum like that. And when we returned to survey Helena, you spent at least three minutes lurking around to find Bruce before admitting that he wouldn't appear again. Then this morning, you hardly slept. And you're a sound sleeper; always."_

Diana massaged the back of her neck and sighed. "Your point being?"

It was a strange silence that followed that made Diana frown. Did Catwoman just leave her head or something? Then…

"_My point is… that you also felt the excitement and sensations that I felt last night when Bruce and I kissed… and you were affected by it the way I was. Perhaps…even more."_

Did Selina's voice change somehow? She wasn't that excited anymore. She was even rather contemplative. Diana chose to say nothing while she filled in the UN report form. Praise Gaia for the multiple choices instead of essays, otherwise her fingers would have stopped writing now.

"_I think you fancy Bruce." _

The UN question Diana was facing was 'how many members does your organization currently have?' and – being the current Justice League chairwoman – she knew the statistics by the heart. She smirked and replied with "Of course, he's one of my best friends." while her brain tried to catch the said statistics currently floating in her head.

Apparently, Catwoman wasn't convinced. _"What I meant was, do you love him?"_

The JL statistics disappeared like a puff of smoke. _Gorgon's spit!_

-xxx-

Even in the daylight, the abandoned castle looked spooky enough to approach, let alone to enter. Zatanna said a series of Rhune curses when she tried to open the massive door to no avail. She hated being in this place, and always wondered how Jason Blood still preferred to live in the medieval castle of New England rather than staying in Star City, Keystone City, New York or Metropolis. Or even Gotham. Surely the very many spooky buildings in Gotham would satisfy his thirst for Gothic architecture.

The Mistress of Magic sighed. "Occam's Razor. The simplest answer usually works the best." She inhaled, said "_Rood nepo!_" and once again her shoulders slumped for the impertinent door did not oblige.

"Perhaps it was not the simplest razor to use," said a dark, rich voice behind her. Zatanna smirked.

"Glad to see that you finally decided to join, B." She turned to see the Batman suddenly materialized behind her. "What kept you?"

"Meetings. Couldn't escape."

"Really?!" Zee quirked her eyebrows. "Isn't Batman the Greatest Escape Artist?"

"Yes, Batman. Not Bruce Wayne and not while we have major board restructuring." Batman moved to the door. "Now step aside. Time for a Muggle to try."

"With what, O Mighty Detective?"

Behind his cowl, Bruce's eyes glittered with humor for a split second. "With a key." He extracted a pin from his utility belt and worked the door for a few seconds. He then tried to open it. It didn't work. Ignoring Zatanna's satisfactory smile, he frowned and tried again but with a kick this time. The door opened with a loud crack, revealing a very Gothic atmosphere inside. Batman smirked back to Zatanna who just rolled her eyes.

"Wow! Our friend sure doesn't have extra security here," whispered Zee as she gingerly stepped in. "Spooky, even for me."

"Jason is a magi. He depends on magic to keep people away from his premise. Your magic has actually disarmed his security so to speak, so what I had to do was just to open it."

Zatanna snorted. "Key. Got it. Next time, I'll bring my magic utility belt, too, or maybe I'll just pull something out of my hat?" She followed the Bat upstairs. "Where is J?"

"I thought the very reason we're here is because you haven't been able to contact him?" Batman entered the library. "Since he's the one claiming the responsibility to safeguard Morgaine, one would wonder if he's still alright…"

"Yeah… Morgaine can be very nasty..." Zee shuddered as she remembered the last time Morgaine le Fay teamed up with Despero and Kanjar-Ro to mould the world as they liked. Her eyes squinted as she tried to find something inside the poorly lit library. "Where's that shabby stone? He should have it around here somewhere?"

"You mean this one?" Batman lifted a heavy stone carved into the form of a face and showed it to Zatanna. "This was where Morgaine was. Imprisoned. Now…" His index finger was tracing the crude carvings of the stone when he suddenly asked again, "You said he hasn't replied to your calls?"

Zatanna nodded. "Telepathic and regular calls. Wait! Are you saying you think that he –"

"Could be trapped inside the stone instead? Do you remember the incantations used to imprison Morgaine?" When Zee nodded again, he added, "Can you reverse it to let whomever it is in there now out here? I bet we will find Jason Blood."

Batman placed the stone onto Zatanna's hand, who then cast a very complicated Rhune and Celtic spells with her wand. Soon, the stone shone from within, as if an imprisoned ray of light tried to get out. It shook terribly and finally exploded in a blinding light, revealing a very exhausted and angry Jason Blood.

"By Merlin's beard, where's that Witch! Where's Morgaine!" was the first thing the medieval Englishman said. His eyes glowed red and his body trembled exceedingly.

"Whoa! Jason! Wait, pal! Calm down!" Zee tried to calm him. But apparently, the host of Demon Etrigan was too angry. Jason even started to chant the spell to let out Etrigan. In a split second decision, Batman did what he had to do.

He punched Jason Blood, hard on the jaw. Jason tumbled down the floor, but was still conscious enough to exclaim a loud 'Ouch!' and a curse. The Englishman eventually regained his bearings. He pushed himself up and sat on a chair, carefully touching his jaw that was introduced to Batman's fist. He looked up and, for the first time since he was freed, calmly spoke.

"Apparently, the incantation wasn't strong enough."

"Most evidently," Batman agreed. "But it took a few years for Morgaine to unlock it, so it was a good try. Plus, she wasn't teaming up with A-class bad guys now, so I hope we can re-imprison her soon."

Not missing Batman's hints by a heart beat, Jason quirked. "Oh? So Morgaine is up to something now?"

Zee nodded this time. "And apparently, she's heading back to Ye-Old-England…and not for a good reason." In five minutes, she explained the nutshell story of the necklace, and by the end of her story, Jason was already sitting tall and alert.

"By the Lady of the Lake! So now the witch is going to combine the magic of Koh-i-noor and the Desert Rose? Where is the Rose now?"

"Fate locked it inside another dimension," Zatanna replied. "He is the only one who knows how to access it, other than myself."

Jason snorted. "Still, that does not bode well at all."

"Well, we agree. That's why Batman and I are going to London to stop her." Zee paused before adding, "– with Wonder Woman and Catwoman."

Jason looked up. "You said that Morgaine's spell clashed with the Desert Rose and made Wonder Woman switched body with Catwoman?"

"More like they share the same body now," explained Batman. "It's complicated, and I am the first person who wants to see them freed from this magic. So if you know anything, just anything…"

Jason rose and approached a book shelf to retrieve an antique box. He cast a spell onto the box, which later opened up to reveal some very old parchments inside. Jason took one of them. "Zatanna. You read ancient Rhunes, don't you?" He gave the parchment to Zee who immediately devoured it enthusiastically. "There are 2 or 3 incantations there that might help. But the tricky thing is that the said persons involved must also make their own affirmations that will deconstruct the events or conditions that first made them trapped."

That didn't escape the Batman. "Wait. You said that they caused this thing to happen to them?"

"Not directly, no. But I know the nature of Morgaine's fatal spells, and if one of those spells interacted with the energy of the Desert Rose…well, that is not a wonder that a shared body happened as the result. Both women apparently need to face whatever they've been avoiding to face."

Even Zatanna was getting confused now. "Look Jason, I'm a magi here, and even I am a tad confused. Can you tell us a bit clearer? In plain English?"

"What's the property of rubies in general?" Instead of replying, Jason asked another question.

Zatanna frowned, but she still ticked her fingers one by one. "Source of life energy. That's why it is a powerful stone. Vitality…uhm…success, that's why Morgaine tried to steal it… Err… Relationships?"

Jason Blood smirked. "Morgaine's spells are disintegrative at the very least. When it mixed with the energy of a stone that carries the relationship energy, it might affect those whose relationships are currently in question, or in need of clarifications. Now I don't know why Catwoman and Wonder Woman have to share body now; it could be just random events?"

"But there's no random event, Jason," Zatanna refuted. "Not in our magical world."

"Exactly. I gather that both women are currently having relationship problems, and the only way to counteract the spell is for them to find their own resolutions. Their own affirmations. And say them aloud the same time you say the Rhune incantation. Remember, it has to be the right affirmation. Otherwise, it will not work."

Zatanna sighed. "Okay then. You're coming to London with us, no? We have work to do tonight, and Dr. Fate is busy with the Society." She meant the Justice Society of America.

"Not yet. I will still have to fortify the prison for Morgaine. Clearly, the old one wasn't strong enough." Jason took the stone from the table and looked back at his friends. "I will regroup with you before sun rises over the Thames tomorrow."

That sounded good for the Batman. "Bring anything you need to bring for Morgaine. We will keep the jewels out of her reach. Zatanna, you will inform Wonder Woman and Catwoman about our plan in London. Depart as soon as you can. Accommodation on me."

"Wait! I thought that you would inform them yourself. I don't really know about the charity and event tonight!"

"Just tell them that I will meet you all at the hotel at 7pm." The Dark Knight strode out of the room.

"Oh yeah?" Zee was clearly a bit pissed off. "What, another board meeting? Joker escaped again?!"

"No." Batman's voice clearly echoed in the hall. "I have headache."

-xxx-

_Author's note:_

_I don't know where Jason Blood lives now, but I assume he's in the US too. Being equipped with historical buildings and castles, New England sounds like the best place for the Demon Etrigan to dwell._

_See you in London!_


	7. Illegal Entrance

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_princeRated T_

_Disclaimer: All major characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn and The Lady Isis for the great beta! Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. Chapter 7. Illegal entrance to…_

**Part 7. Illegal Entrance**

"Aaahhh! Good ole' London…" Catwoman sighed as she stretched her back in a very feline way. Glancing at the top of the glass dome of the Jewel House of the Tower of London, she frowned because of course she didn't see her own reflection under the twilight. She saw Wonder Woman's instead, folding her hands, clearly disapproving whatever actions to follow.

"I take it that you've been in this city often?" Floating about a foot behind her, Zatanna peeked into the darkness below.

"Girl's night out, shopping spree, you know…." Catwoman fixed her goggles before adding, "So let me make this clear again: we're here because Bruce thinks that we need to alter something before a great disaster happens, and then we're joining him – a bit too late for my taste – for the gala tonight?"

"Exactly."

"And what Bruce wants is us to –"

"Steal the Imperial State Crown and replace it with the replica so that Morgaine le Fay will not steal and destroy it instead to retrieve Koh-i-noor." The famous Koh-i-noor – with other famous gems – was currently adorning the Imperial State Crown of England.

"_And of course my suggestion that Batman contact the UK government instead for the switch was not considered,"_ Wonder Woman's irritated voice from the glass reflection joined the discussion.

"Of course," purred Catwoman. "He'd prefer me stealing the crown instead…"

Detecting that Selina was slipping into her catty mode, Zatanna decided to intervene. "You know what happened, Diana. Batman had contacted GCHQ, tipping them off about a possible attempt to steal the Crown tonight, but then MI-5 dismissed it. Hence, notwithstanding my utter disappointment of not being able to work with cute MI-5 agents, so the holy duty to safeguard the Crown falls –"

"Upon me," Catwoman purred again. "Well, upon us. Come on ladies, don't waste time. We have very little window here. On my mark, okay?"

The plan was very simple: get the Imperial Crown and swap it with the replica so that Morgaine could not have it for herself. But to do so before the gala tonight, which meant that the switch had to take place just a wee bit after the Jewel House was closing. The last-minute plan was proposed (or more likely, imposed on) by Batman just a few minutes after the ladies arrived in Grange White Hall Hotel in London, overlooking the British Museum where the gala would be held tonight.

The three women were in various modes altogether: Diana was a bit pissed off because she had to cancel her very important lunch meeting in New York, Selina had already planned some shopping spree around Mayfair, and Zatanna was happy enough to take a luxurious aromatherapy shower before the action tonight. So, when Bruce Wayne in all his elegance announced a short visit in their suite, the news he brought made Wonder Woman even more annoyed. She received help from Zatanna, who was clearly displeased to find her shower time disrupted by the dashing but stubborn billionaire. Both women busily glared at and debated Bruce, while Selina (inside a larger than life mirror in the living room) just rubbed her palms together; very happy to have the opportunity to steal the Imperial Crown, albeit not for herself… but stealing was stealing and she was great at it.

The operating hour was not ideal though. It was about 7pm in London (the gala started at 7:30pm), well past the closing hour of the Jewel House. Still, Selina could not wait until around midnight to steal it. In fact, she had to do it just around the time the janitors finished cleaning the Crown section and additional security sensors were activated. That would be unfavorable, for Zatanna said that there would be 1-2 seconds when the Crown just shimmer out of sight and hence the automatic weight detector underneath the Crown would detect the sudden change of weight.

So the plan was to have Zatanna (instead of Catwoman) come close to the Crown to cast her switch spell just after the janitor left the room. She would cast a cloaking spell onto herself to avoid being seen. But to make sure that no one heard her incantations, Catwoman needed to turn off the audio inside the security room. Selina admitted that it was not so challenging a job, for she would prefer to get her hands dirty; touching the Crown herself but she was now part of team (reluctantly) and she knew, that she had to do that distasteful security video jamming anyway. Selina also had to deactivate the heat sensor from the security room, but Zatanna would have to manually deactivate the weight sensor inside the Crown Room.

"Meh, easy girl! See ya soon!" Zee grinned and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

While excitement started to grow in Zatanna (she was not stealing the Crown per se, after all), Wonder Woman on the other hand, was not happy. She was very glad that they did not have to enter the Crown section; the myriad glassy surfaces there would reveal that Wonder Woman attempted to steal the Crown. Although Catwoman would not lurk in the Crown Room, surely glassy surfaces could be found in many places inside the Jewel House. That would not bode well to Wonder Woman's diplomatic reputation.

"Why can't Zatanna just deactivate the security system?" She had launched another meek attempt to cancel the plan earlier. "If she could materialize inside the room unnoticed, she could also deactivate the systems, right? No one will see whatever her magic is then."

"Because to deactivate it the first time, she has to say it first, honey," Selina explained the obvious from inside the mirror; anger had apparently made Diana lose her logic momentarily. "Besides, don't tell me you have NEVER wanted to steal something, or sneak unnoticed into a heavily guarded place? It's FUN, you know and quite the rush!"

And thus, as the last of the sunlight disappeared over the Thames, Catwoman circled the roof's perimeter to find a suitable entrance. Once she found it, she expertly jimmied the lock and slid her slim body into the darkness.

-xxx-

The notion of stealing the British Imperial Crown was something that Wonder Woman would rather have kept to herself (in addition to Bruce, Selina and Zatanna). Deep inside, she understood why such action was needed. But she was not ready for its ramifications. Chiefly among them was being inside Catwoman's lithe body, sliding and slipping effortlessly from corner to corner, from one air vent to another, inside the Jewel House.

By nature, Selina Kyle was a sensual woman. She was well aware of her own sensuality and was proud of it. She enjoyed little things that arouse her sensuality; from taking a luxurious shower or bath, getting her nails painted, gliding the air from one rooftop to the next, and particularly this: sliding and slipping in the dark, trying not to get caught while claiming her sparkling prize. It was an eternal game Catwoman loved. She even admitted that the joy of having the jewels, money, etc was pale second in comparison to the joy of the numerous steps she had to take to steal it and finally laying her hands on it. She just loved the 'catch me if you can' game. She loved the chase.

By no means was Diana of Themyscira not sensual. For many a man (and woman), Wonder Woman was very appealing, sexy and arousing. But Diana herself never consciously utilized her sensuality to achieve her goals. In addition to being a heroine, a diplomat and a humanitarian, she was foremost a warrior and a hunter. She hunted, but unlike the way Selina prowled. Diana would crouch vigilantly, her eagle eyes scanning the vicinity. Or, she would stand tall and regal in her basic armor (which was called 'swimsuit' by many) and would emanate poise and elegance instead of conscious display of sexiness. She almost never considered her body as having sexual nature, despite her months with Tom Tresser the Nemesis. Almost never… until last night, when she again remembered how it felt to be kissed by Bruce Wayne (despite her being inside Catwoman's body at that time).

When Selina kissed Bruce (and Bruce subsequently reciprocated), Diana felt a sudden surge of electricity she never even felt when Tom kissed her. All of a sudden, inside the mirror dimension, she felt her entire body screaming for the Dark Knight. She felt Selina's heart palpitating wildly, and she was also aroused by it. She felt weak, yet empowered at the same time. Slaved, yet reigning at the same time. The prey, and also the predator at once. Try as she might, she could not get rid of that confusing cocktail of feelings. Even while she saved the roaring airplane with engines on fire, when she silently watched Selina spying on the dark hotel room where Helena slept… even when Tom had kissed her.

And now, somehow being inside Catwoman's body that was leisurely crouching in a dark corner inside the Jewel House, Diana's passions were aroused once more. She knew perfectly well that Catwoman was not sensually aroused at that time; her flowing bodily movements were standard for the Feline Fatale in action. But she, the Wonder Woman, was restless. She suddenly longed for Batman. To kiss him again. To open his cowl and kiss the wrinkled corners of his eyes. To mount him and to claim him, the way ancient warriors claimed their spoils. She was uncomfortable with those feelings… and yet she did not want them to go away.

Thus, Diana's disappointment when Catwoman climbed up another air vent and whispered, "I think this is it. This should bring us to the security room." Selina had been consulting a blueprint Batman had given her earlier from Goddess knows where. After silently closing the ventilation lid, the Feline Fatale read the blueprint using the night vision function on her goggles. "Yeah, I'm right. Should be close."

Selina then slid, pushed and pulled her body along the narrow ventilation tunnel, unconsciously caressing her hips with the cold and smooth texture of the tunnel. Diana wished she could ask her host to stop doing that. Selina's movements and the way her hips pressed the tunnel somehow ignited Wonder Woman's deep secret wish of…making love with the Batman, with Bruce. Feelings she had chosen to ignore years ago, after they reached the consensus of being 'just friends'. Unconsciously, she let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" whispered Catwoman.

_Hades! _Wonder Woman cursed herself. _"Nothing. It's just a very long tunnel."_

"What are you talking about?! The other tunnel was much longer than this one!" Catwoman pulled and pushed herself to the dimly lit vent lid a few feet away and surreptitiously looked down. She switched to mind talk. "There. Told ya!"

"_You obviously don't consider that the two guards down there exist,"_ Wonder Woman commented, only to receive a 'wait and see' from her host.

Catwoman dug a pouch from her belt and sprinkle the powdery content through the air-vent. "Zatanna gave me it earlier. Depending on their body constitutions, it will make them either thirsty, or wanting the toilet badly."

"_Ah, charming. And I presume it won't affect you because you've taken the antidote?"_

"But of course," Selina smugly replied. "Now we wait." She then took a position that the yogis would describe as a 'sphinx pose' and rocked her hips left and right, swayed her feet up and down, just for fun while waiting. Had she had a tail, her tail would be flicking side by side by now.

Yet, without any tail, Selina's automatic sways already ignited another 'undesirable' effect in Diana, whose rather uncontrollable passion was further triggered. The Amazon cursed and swore silently, knowing well that were she to be released from Catwoman's body this instance, the first thing she did would not be saving the Crown or the world. She would hunt the Batman instead and 'woman-handle' him mercilessly. In bed. Or on the floor. With his cape and boots intact.

Or perhaps, not. For suddenly one of the guards below (the taller one) got up, declaring that he needed to get something to drink. A minute later, the other guard (chubbier, this time) got up as well, cursing his mate for not turning up sooner. He then cursed again and sprinted out of the room, imitating the funny movements of someone trying to control his bowels.

"There now. We're free. Purrfect…" Catwoman purred again in satisfaction. Effortlessly, she lifted the vent lid aside and jumped silently into the room. She activated her commlink and whispered, "Zee, I'm in. You're in position?"

There was no reply, for they had agreed that Zatanna would maintain radio silence while she was inside the Crown Room; the audio there during off hours was very sensitive. Instead, Catwoman heard three very faint knocks at the microphone. It was a yes.

Catwoman looked at several screens inside the security room. Ah, there was the janitor emerging out of the Crown Room and walking down the corridor. The one with 'Crowns' label showed no one in front of the various crowns resting on luxurious French velvet and protected by 2 inch thick shatter-proof glass. Catwoman saw how the Imperial State Crown bathed in the dim display light, the famous Koh-i-noor mounted on top if it, and she had several seconds of regret of not being able to steal the Crown for herself. She then dismissed the thought and moved the cameras around. She saw no one in any corners of the room.

Selina nodded in satisfaction, took a seat and swiftly moved her fingers across the keyboard. She was by no means the Oracle, but she knew the basic hacking principals. The first step – replaying the monitor scene for several minutes – was easy: she recorded 2 minutes of the silent Crown Room and played it several times. She then deactivated the heat sensors. Now Zatanna could move close enough to the Crown, for even though she was cloaked, her body still emanated detectable heat.

"Okay Zee. Sound off, heat sensors off. I give you 6-8 minutes, starting from now. That should be long enough."

"_That's too long honey, I only need 1 minute." _Then, very audible for Catwoman (and Wonder Woman) who wore the commlink, Zatanna uttered, _"Thgiew srosnes pots." _

"Lazy," commented Catwoman. "Can't you just approach the crowns and search with your hands instead?!"

"Oh, shut up Selina," muttered Zee, who soon cast another spell. _"Lairepmi Nworc, o got Etaf. Acilper raeppa."_

Catwoman and Wonder Woman could not see it, but Zatanna enjoyed how the Imperial Crown shimmered and disappeared, only to have it appearing again 1-2 seconds later. _"I've sent the real one to Fate's own plane. The replica is here now. Done, ladies. Wrap up."_

"Magic. That's cheating. No fun in that," complained Catwoman, but she grinned anyway as she turned off the replayed video, deleted the file, and turned on the voice and heat sensors. She heard footsteps approaching as she lifted herself into the ventilation and was only a few feet away inside the tunnel when she heard how one of the guards complained about his very bad thirst, so much that he had to go to the toilet soon, while the other one told him how bad his diarrhea was. Selina Kyle released a soft chuckle. Inside the mirror dimension, Diana smiled as well.

-xxx-

Okay, she was not inside Selina's body now. Diana was glad of it, though the change was of course displeasing for Catwoman, who had prepared her deep grape Valentino gown for the night. However, Bruce made another last minute request ('order' was more precise) to have Wonder Woman present for the British Museum gala.

"They have this historical jewels display alongside the charity for cancers in children; a combined event of sort," he explained later on the phone as Catwoman swung into the hotel room, ready to take a shower and put her Valentino on. The organizer had asked Bruce Wayne to contact Wonder Woman earlier today, and he already said he didn't have access to Madam Ambassador at the time. But then, he found out that they actually invited some cancer victims – the children – and of course if the presence of Wonder Woman could enhance the donation, why not? And how could Selina Kyle, single mother of a cute little girl, say no to that?

"Okay, okay!" she finally agreed, albeit grudgingly. "But I am still taking a shower now!"

That made it double, for after Selina packed her Valentino inside Zatanna's magic purse ('who knows if Diana would get bored with dancing?') and spun into Wonder Woman, Diana proclaimed that she needed to take a shower as well. That made Bruce Wayne unhappy for he had to ask the committee to postpone her speech time. Not for long though, for in 15 minutes a Diana in red satin dress, Lasso of Truth on her left hip, was already standing in front of the British Museum, grinning at Zatanna who was also dressed flamboyantly, albeit in dark Gothic theme, with black satin corset and all. On top of the stairs, Bruce Wayne gallantly strode towards them.

"Good evening, Bruce, nice to see you again," Wonder Woman casually addressed the playboy billionaire. " Have you seen any disturbances?" Diana added in a whisper as Bruce held Zatanna's hand in a very gentlemanlike manner. No doubt that Alfred Pennyworth had trained him in British manners. Diana herself chose to walk a good hand distance by Bruce's side. After her unexpected fantasies inside the Jewel House tonight, physical contact with Bruce was advisably best avoided.

"Not that kind," Bruce flashed his most dashing playboy smile as he nodded to a couple of London socialites that strode past them, "– but soon enough, if you don't start speaking soon to start the charity event. We're just into the dessert, sorry that you missed the great main course."

"No way!" Zatanna grunted. "I am so hungry!"

Diana grinned as she said, "Selina said the same. And I am too."

"Well, they still serve nibbles during the entire evening, anyway," Bruce informed the hungry magi charmingly. " There are lots and lots of finger foods." He ushered the ladies to the Great Court ground of the British Museum, where an elaborate setting of the gala dinner was displayed before them under the starry transparent, spider-web dome. It was a beautiful setting, making Diana wish that they didn't have to fight tonight.

Bruce introduced Diana to a very smart lady in her 50's, who without further ado took the Ambassador of Themyscira to the podium in front of the Great Court, and then returned to his seat. Zatanna immediately took a seat next to Bruce and enjoyed the dessert they put in front of her (she had a choice between lemon mascarpone layer cake and strawberry and white chocolate charlotte, and she chose the latter). She did have a chance to glance over the podium to see the elaborate displays of ancient jewels around the Court entrance.

"Yes, of course we have the Rose there, genuine one, among other famous jewels," commented Bruce calmly as he sipped his wine. "And we can see how strong your charms are tonight." Bruce meant Zatanna and Fate's spell that was cast onto the necklace earlier this evening before he handed over the jewels to the organizer. The spell was meant to auto-react whenever a destructive spell falls upon it, imprisoning the Rose inside a magical bubble.

"I don't believe that the Museum will auction those historical jewels to raise funds for cancer."

"No, they won't. But the five highest bidders will have the right to wear particular jewels for the rest of the night, and that's incentive enough for most donators."

"Bruce Wayne included?" teased Zatanna, receiving only a playboy look from Bruce. "I think the Rose's presence should do the trick." Bruce only nodded and made some non-committal grunt; his eyes already set on the podium where Diana was speaking, who once again displayed flawless manners of speaking and inspiring humanitarian spirits, evoking not only applause but also a considerable amount of donations for the children cancer cause.

"One point eight million pounds?!" whispered Zee in awe later as Diana sat down for a minute or two just to rest. "You can pay the major Harry Potter cast with that!"

"I know," grinned Wonder Woman as she got up again; the organizer wanted her to personally congratulate the donators. Diana fixed her long satin dress before approaching major donators of the night, chiefly among them: Bruce Wayne. The Wayne Foundation usually led the case in donation, but Diana's presence tonight also triggered more contributions from other socialites. She expressed her sincere gratitude to the donators, shook their hands, and took standard hugs and kisses pictures…but she shook Bruce's hand too short enough to invite a quirk from him. He didn't say anything though, and Diana was glad about it.

So, her job was done. She could nibble some expensive finger food while the others were dancing, but she wasn't hungry anymore. She might just spin back to Catwoman, letting Selina enjoy her grape Valentino, while she hid inside her host, hoping that Selina would not just approach Bruce and grope his butt as she pleased. For surely, that was what Diana wanted now.

And what she wanted was in a very dangerous status of happening soon, as she saw Bruce walking towards her.

"Where's Zee?" Bruce smiled at her. A sincere smile, an admiring smile. Most definitely not a playboy smile. Most definitely Diana would prefer facing his annoying playboy smile right now, for she could ignore _that_, and _not this _sincere smile.

"Dancing, of course," maintaining a careless façade, Diana swung her champagne glass towards the Gothic-themed Zatanna who was dancing intimately with a tall and dark gorgeous Englishman. "Apparently Bruce, that guy can give you a run for your money."

"Apparently," Bruce quirked, "– if Zatanna is not aware that he's an undercover MI-5 agent."

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not. The Grid didn't believe Batman's story about the Crown, but they did intercept some news of possible attack in this gala, what with all their Excellencies and expensive jewels dancing around. Possible raid for a 'higher' cause, apparently. Anyway –," he reached for Diana's almost empty champagne glass, gave it to a waiter nearby, and said, "What about a dance?"

Diana arched her eyebrows. "You never want to dance. Not with me, at least."

"Who said so? I just never asked."

"Say 'please' then."

He didn't smile when he said "Please, Princess", but his eyes shone with a thousand stars. And just like that, Diana found herself in his arms: for the first time after more than ten years of knowing him, she danced with Bruce Wayne. She didn't know what to make of it, except that she regretted hosting Selina inside her now. She wanted to feel as a woman dancing with Bruce, instead of having another soul inside her who knew well whatever she was feeling at the moment. And surely, for Diana's heart beat faster and faster by the minute, Selina would have known by now. But no voice at all was coming from the Catwoman. Nothing, nada. Silence. Except for the waltz and people murmuring around her. Silent… not even Bruce spoke… for a while at least.

"You're not comfortable," he finally broke the awkward silence between them. His voice, Diana noted, wasn't of the Bruce Wayne. It was of the Batman.

"Yes… well… I…" Diana cleared her throat, "I'm hoping that there will be no fiasco tonight… even if Morgaine le Fay decides to appear." She looked into his deep blue eyes and realized that he knew it was not the thing that occupied her mind. She cleared her throat again. "What I mean is…"

"Diana –" Bruce cut her suddenly. "If all of this makes you more and more uncomfortable –"

"I think it's good that Morgaine appears tonight, right?" She smiled a bit. "Yes, you're right. The sooner we end this, the better. For Selina as well," she added the last bit as an afterthought.

Yet, it wasn't what Bruce wanted to say. "What I mean Diana, is that I'm sorry to put you into such a complicated situation." To Diana's confused look, he added, "I imagine Tom is not so pleased these days, not being able to be alone with you…"

_Oh, that… _Diana felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment. "Oh yes…well, naturally… He did want to come tonight, but I said no…" She looked at Bruce again, but could not tell what he was thinking. "Look, Bruce, I know how awkward it is to dance with me now… when last night you and Selina were…" She stopped dancing and let go of her hands; her palms were so slippery now. "I'm just sorry that I was there… disturbing you…" She then looked away, hence missing the strange clouds that suddenly passed by Bruce's countenance.

"Diana, I think –"

But she wouldn't know what Bruce thought of, for suddenly a loud crash and bang exploded from above. Instinctively, Diana looked up to see half a dozen men in black suddenly jumping out of the sky from a fresh opening in the dome.

"Terrorist attack?! I thought Morgaine –"

"There!" Bruce pointed at a hazy smoke a few feet above the dome. The smoke cleared in seconds, revealing a handsome but twisted face of…

"Mordred…" whispered Diana. "And if the son is here –"

"Mom should be near," replied Bruce as he ran out of the room, together with many panicked Excellencies and guests.

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_Sorry, this Spooks fan can't help to include MI-5 here in London… with a very Richard Armitage-like agent! And there are several version of Mordred, but I adopted the JL animated version, i.e. Mordred, son of Morgaine._

_About the Crown Room and details of the Jewel House, it was a bit hard to really get them without going there (the Jewel House website wasn't as helpful as the British Museum's), so my apologies for the incorrect details. The Lady Isis told me that there was no glass roof on the Jewel House, but for the sake of the story telling, I opted for one :-D_


	8. Chaos at the Museum

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_Rated T_

_Disclaimer: All major characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta, and I do apologize for the very long hiatus. Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. Chapter 8. Chaos at the Museum. Guest starring: a girl in purple skirt (and a dog!)._

**Part 8. Chaos at the Museum**

One night when she and Donna had nothing to do, Diana found herself watching the _Mists of Avalon_ DVD with her sister. She liked it, particularly because it depicted a very different Morgaine le Fay than the one she usually knew. The _Mists of Avalon _Morgaine was a strong and honorable woman who strived to preserve her tradition and belief. Diana had wished that she would have known her instead of the typical sorceress she usually dealt with on yearly basis. At that time, Donna just snorted and said, 'Dream on, Sister!'

Donna's comment strangely echoed in her head as Diana launched herself to counter-attack the first pair of attackers who were unlucky enough to be in her punching distance. She was pondering on Mordred's folly of sending only six men to disturb the gala when two other dozens men plunged down from the dome and started the shooting spree everywhere. Wonder Woman frowned as her body swiftly flew here and there to deflect the bullets. For an attempt to steal a jewel, this was clearly a bit overdone.

"_It's a trap, Diana!"_ suddenly she heard Selina yelling in her head._ "The Rose! Get to the Rose!"_

"Well, I can't let them killing innocent people, can I?!" Diana responded as her hand threw her tiara towards a group of terrorist on her left, knocking each and every one of them down. "Where's Zatanna?!"

Catwoman could only see whatever Wonder Woman saw, and she did not detect Zatanna anywhere in Diana's field of view. _"I can't see her! How's the podium?!"_

Catching her tiara and putting it back on her forehead, Diana took a quick glance at the set of jewels on the podium. She saw three men (including the tall guy who danced with Zatanna) safeguarding the jewels, but she still saw no Zatanna. She then looked up at the museum dome and there, high up in the sky, she saw flashes of lights as Zatanna faced Mordred. And she did not seem to take control of the situation.

"Help Zee, Diana! I got this!"

Wonder Woman did not need to look to know who spoke to her, but she did acknowledge the Batman who was busy dealing with five attackers at once. She thought of how strange her life was, that only a moment ago she was dancing with Bruce Wayne, and before the dance was even finished, she was now fighting side by side with the Batman. Diana swallowed the thought, nodded and took off to the sky.

-xxx-

He was good. He was damned good. Zatanna had to admit that as she felt her blood oozing from her left shoulder. Yet, she did not flinch an inch.

"If you think that you and your mother can steal the Rose and do that rule the world thingy, Mordred, you picked the wrong girl and the wrong night!" Zee's unharmed hand was still up high, holding an energy shield she had just created to block Mordred's attacks.

"Why… your dancing partner was about to give you his phone number?!" Mordred blasted another energy ball. "Here! Take mine instead!"

"Lovely," Wonder Woman smirked as she intercepted the energy ball with her bracers. "Forgive me to intrude your date!" The energy ball deflected, she launched herself at Mordred, knocking him off balance a few hundred yards away. "Zatanna, I'm on this. Help Batman!"

All sweaty and puffy, Zee nodded and disappeared into a puff of smoke. But a second later, Diana regretted it, for she saw Mordred regaining his bearing and flying at high speed, aiming to knock her down. Swiftly, Wonder Woman dodged the attack and punched the handsome yet cruel sorcerer hard. He groaned, yet stubbornly launched another attack, with his energy ball this time. Diana almost sniffed as she blocked the energy ball again.

"Really Mordred, is this all you've got?"

Yet, no sooner than she finished the sentence, Mordred increased the intensity and frequency of his energy balls. Tired of blocking them, Diana finally changed her tactics. She clanked her bracers together, creating a huge series of lightning that eventually struck Mordred clean, sending him tumbling down the sky.

Yet, Diana is Wonder Woman after all. As she watched Mordred's body fall, she made a quick decision and dove to catch him but her flight was halted midway, though, by a masked sorceress whose body language emanated nothing but disdain and hatred.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," Morgaine le Fay said nonchalantly. "He can take care of himself. You on the other hand –" beneath the gold mask, her eyes glowed red, "cannot!"

The sky seemed to crack in two as the medieval sorceress blasted her curses towards Diana, who immediately blocked them. But it was not enough. Morgaine's energy ball was even more powerful than her son's. In fact, the sorceress' ability had seemed to have double since Diana last encountered her. It was a good thing that Morgaine did not decide to mould the world as she had done before, but it did not mean that she was less dangerous. Diana searched for a split second gap in between Morgaine's attack to launch her own lightning attacks, and once she launched it, the sky above the Museum of London blasted and cracked in anger.

However, the Aegis lightning did not seem to stop Morgaine. True, it halted her and practically created a lightning shield between the Sorceress and Diana where none of them could move farther, but it made Diana wondered if she had not mastered the true art of lightning at all. Perhaps she should ask Captain Marvel to teach her... should she manage to get out of this predicament without getting fried alive.

In fact, scratch that. She might not even have the possibility to get out non-fried. Diana's arms shook so hard as she held her bracers together, her Aegis lightning slowly diminished after prolonged attack.

"_You can't make it!" _panic crept into Selina's voice. _"Where's Zee?! Still with Mordred?!"_

Wonder Woman did not have any energy to respond. Slowly, she felt the lightning disappeared back into the bracers. Soon, the bracers returned to their original function of deflection. Diana gritted her teeth and tried to crouch down to maintain leverage. In doing so, she lost control of surroundings and was shocked to feel a hot sensation on her back. _Someone shot me._ She turned around to find Mordred – far away at the podium and surrounded by Batman, Zatanna and several MI-5 agents – displaying a sickening grin at her; his hand was lifted to fire another blast from behind. Diana tried to raise her falling hand in time, but she was too late. Mordred's energy ball mixed with his mother's knocked her out of balance. She felt her body falling below, crashing against the dome, and rolling on the floor several times before she stopped at the bottom of the stairs… Inside Catwoman's body.

"_No!" _Diana screamed as she suddenly found herself in the bubble dimension. _"Spin, Selina! You can't take her!"_

But Catwoman was not going to spin. Gritting her teeth to block the pain she just felt when the energy balls hit Wonder Woman (Selina could also feel the pain, and – strong as she was – her pain threshold was lower than Diana's), she rose instead and searched for Morgaine.

During Diana's fall, Morgaine had launched herself to the podium, where Zatanna and Batman were fighting Mordred. The Sorceress hovered down to the podium and was casting her spells to lift the protection spell. There was no way in heaven and hell that Selina would let her take the Rose.

The Feline Fatale crossed the chaotic museum floor and launched herself at Morgaine, who tumbled down as the momentum struck. But she was too late. The protection spell was off, the Rose was flying in the air and into Morgaine's hand, even as Catwoman introduced her raw punches at the sorceress the Batman threw his Batarang to stop the Rose flying.

"You're not taking it with you! You're not!" She lost control. Selina lost control. In her panic mind, she could only see Helena's family being hunted down and killed one by one by Benini's men, because she could not deliver the Rose to the Mafioso. She could not let it happen. She could not fail Helena, yet again. Morgaine must not take the Rose.

"_Catwoman, are you out of your mind?" _Wonder Woman warned her from inside her head. _"Get off her! Spin, now!"_

"Catwoman! Spin! Now! Let Wonder Woman out!"

_What's wrong with these people?_ Just now Diana ordered her around. Now the Batman. Do they have so little faith in her? _Does he have so little faith in me?! _So Catwoman kept wrestling with Morgaine le Fay, trying to get the Rose out of her clawing hand, not noticing that the Sorceress had flown up high through the half-destroyed dome and tried to shake her off. "Give me back the Rose!"

"Catwoman, stop it! Leave it! Let Diana do it!" Evidently troubled by Catwoman's persistence, Batman had launched himself with the grapple gun, climbing the highest point of the Museum's dome, while Zatanna soared into the sky to chase Morgaine.

Clearly, Morgaine was also beginning to find Catwoman obstructive. With a high pitch roar of an annoyed tigress, she swiped her free hand and blasted a close-distance energy ball to Catwoman's face. Catwoman had only a second to dodge the fire, and in doing so she lost her grip to Morgaine. She fell down, twenty stories.

"_Great Gaia! Spin, Selina! Spin!" _Diana screamed in her head.

Ignoring Wonder Woman, Catwoman automatically reached for her whip. There was nowhere to throw it as a safety rope but Morgaine's own body. Even during the fall, she expertly threw it at Morgaine, caught her right leg and started to climb up. She looked up to heave her body and saw another ball of golden fire flying towards her. She gasped and lifted her hands, wishing she had Wonder Woman's bracers now, and felt a hot sensation hitting her chest.

Catwoman had only a few seconds of fuzziness before she succumbed into the darkness below. But as her body fell, she heard a strange scream that could only mean concerns and sorrow.

"Diana! Nooooooo!!!"

It was the voice of the Batman. Of Bruce Wayne. A scream of concern and sorrow. And…love?

-xxx-

"Hand. Her. Back." Batman's tone was down dead serious, it shivered Zatanna to the bones.

"Hand who back, Batman?" hugging the bleeding Catwoman tightly, Mordred smirked. "Catwoman? Or… Wonder Woman?"

They were standing in the deserted Museum yard. Mordred hovering a few feet away off the ground, Batman and Zatanna on the ground, and Morgaine with her proud smile standing on the dome. Batman clenched his jaws. "Both. Hand them both over."

"Not sure why you referred to 'them'. I have only one woman here, as you can see," Mordred sneered. "But I'm pretty sure that her name is not Diana."

"Enough of that, Son," Morgaine decided that this game was no fun. She descended parallel with her son and showed the glowing Desert Rose to Batman. "You are a smart hero, Batman. You know what I want in return for this woman or these women. I want the real Koh-i-Noor delivered to me before the sunrise tomorrow." The Crown replica appeared on her other hand before she threw it to the Caped Crusader. "Here take this I have no need of a fake one."

"What will happen if we don't deliver the jewel?" asked Zatanna, though she already knew the answer.

"Oh don't be silly my dear stupid witch," smiled Morgaine. "Your friend, or friends whatever, will be dead. I may not make a powerful incantation without the Koh-i-Noor, but her blood will do some dark magic as well."

"It will never work, Morgaine," Batman tried to bargain. "It didn't work the last time."

"But it will this time, Batman," Morgaine le Fay coolly volleyed back as she and Mordred disappeared in the smoke. "It will, this time."

-xxx-

Batman almost killed him. Well, not really. Jason Blood knew that Batman could be very angry at times, but he never saw her like this. When Zatanna asked her to come to London ahead of their agreed time, Jason knew that something was wrong. But he never realized that it was a very serious matter for the Batman.

"She's not going to kill them, Batman," he argued.

"How do you know?!" The Dark Knight snapped. "Last time I checked, Morgaine did mould this Earth as she pleased."

"She needs both women alive to have the real Koh-i-Noor," Zee reminded him. "Look B, I am also very pissed off here. Utterly. That witch knocking off my protective spell Fate's – and –mine that's already making me pissed. But yelling at Jason is not helping anyone."

Batman snorted and almost childishly turned his back. He ignored Jason's "So you don't want to know what news I've got?" and let Zatanna answered with "What?"

"Its gem battle, Zee," clearly ignoring Batman now, Jason explained to the Mistress of Magic. "I contacted Fate a few hours after you're gone, and we agreed that should things gone bad – like now – the only way is to let this escalate to gem battle."

Zatanna blinked. Jason Blood's logic clearly escaped her. "Pray, enlighten me."

"Morgaine has one of the most prominent jewels in her hand now. If she can get her hand on the Koh-i-Noor, then we have to face the energies of two most prominent jewels." Jason Blood turned to see the Tower of London across the river; they were at the other side of the Thames.

"You're suggesting for me to steal some more crowns to combat the energies of the two jewels?" Zee could not help feeling ridiculous.

"No," Jason faced her again. "I am suggesting that you coming with me to fetch the most prominent jewel bearer to help us fighting Morgaine."

Zee blinked. "You want to call the Green Lanterns or Star Sapphires?"

"No," this time, the Bat emerged from silence. Facing both of them, his tight lips formed something that almost looked like a smile. "But this person might not want to help us."

-xxx-

The university's library was silent. It was mid-term break, and only a handful of students were left behind, struggling with either assignments or thesis, or both. A young woman of twenty sighed and frowned as she forced herself to continue tapping at her Toshiba in a desperate attempt to make the boring document in front of her come alive. A whining sound did not stop her typing.

"Taffy, told ya if they found ya, you're out…"

Taffy the golden retriever still whined. Facing his mistress' strong evidence of ignorance, he gingerly approached her and tugged her purple skirt. He whined again. His blonde mistress ignored him again.

Eventually, the whining escalated. Concerned that the stern librarian's enhanced hearing caught Taffy's whining, Amy Winston finally sighed and got up. She tickled Taffy's golden fur and asked,

"So big boy, what's up? You've got your dinner two hours ago."

She looked into Taffy's black eyes and saw the reflection of a dark person behind her. Amy gasped, her body turned swiftly in defense mode.

"Amethyst, Princess of the Gemworld, we need your help," Batman stated matter-of-factly.

Amy saw Jason Blood and Zatanna behind the Caped Crusader. Reminding herself of her royal heritage, Amy summoned her courage to say, "Why should I help?"

"Because of this."

Amy looked at the gem on Jason Blood's palm. It was her amethyst talisman.

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_My sincere apologies for the semester-long break. Been too busy with life and stuff, but I'm glad for the holiday. Diana's lightning energy is a canon now, thanks to Gail Simone's Warkiller story arc. I personally think that the lightning power is awesome!_

_And I hope you like the insertion of Amy Winston. I love Amethyst so much!_


	9. I wish I’d told her…

**The Wildest Dream and the Worst Nightmare**

_A Batman/Wonder Woman/Catwoman story by Icha_

_Rated T_

_Disclaimer: All major characters belong to the DC Comics, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for the great beta, and I do apologize for the very long hiatus. Set in the near future of my imaginary DC Universe, where Bruce Wayne had returned from MIA and reigned again as the Batman. Chapter 9. Listening to two love stories._

**Chapter 9. I wish I'd told her… **

The first few minutes were very misty, she realized. She could see nothing more than a foot away, nor could she tell where she was, or even whether she was dreaming or awake. Tentatively, she took a step then stopped then another step and, sensing no danger, another step. Then…

"Oh thank Gaea! Catwoman, you're alive!"

Suddenly a gorgeous dark-haired woman hugged Selina Kyle so tightly, that she almost lost her balance.

"Whoa….! Easy there tiger… what's up here?"

Diana looked down at her (she was almost a head taller than Selina) and blinked. "What do you mean 'what's up'? The bubble screen suddenly went blank. For some sickening moments I thought you were dead!"

Selina blinked too. "Really. Never thought of that. Am I dead then?"

Diana shook her head as she let go. "No. Come to think of it, had you been dead, I don't think I would be here."

"Really…" released from the unexpected Amazonian hug, Selina took the time to scan her surroundings. "So, am I in the bubble dimension whatever again?" Upon receiving Diana's nod, she sighed.

"That was quite a hit you took," Diana said with apparent concern. "I should have been the one to take it. How are you feeling now?"

Selina took some time to register that question. She examined her body and found no evidence of a wound at all. No scratch, zilch, nada, let alone blood and pain. "I feel… painless," she finally replied before adding, "Actually, I feel nothing."

"Which means that your body is unconscious now," Diana concluded. "Perhaps that's a good sign. I was afraid that you had excessive bleeding."

"Doesn't mean that I'm… well, my body is not bleeding now," commented Selina before pausing. "If I am bleeding now, and losing a lot of blood… would I die?"

"I honestly don't think that your wound would cause such bleeding, Selina," gently, Diana gave her opinion. "Magical fireballs usually stun people, electrocute them. They do not cause them to bleed to death."

"Still, I know I felt blood oozing before I passed out. Anyway, so I was electrocuted or something. If I don't regain consciousness because of the pain… would… I…what will happen to me, to us? Will I disappear?"

Diana caught a flicker of fear in Selina's pale face that quickly turned into resolution. She smiled. Catwoman maybe a thief, but she was first and foremost a fighter. She reached for Selina's hand, asking her to sit down on the pearly floor of the bubble dimension. "If anything, Selina, I'm sure that you'll wake up soon enough. And we'll scream at each other again while trying to find a way out of this new situation."

Selina ignored Diana's gesture and choose to look around instead. "So Morgaine got me, us, and… I assume she will use us as a means to bargain for something. We might just have to sit down and wait for the cavalry to arrive."

Diana chuckled as she confirmed it.

"Do you realize that he called your name when I was about to pass out?"

If Selina's statement caught Diana by surprise, the latter woman didn't show it. Nor did she indicate that she didn't understand the identity of the male person in question. Instead, she just bit her lip and, after a while, she quietly said, "Yes,I heard my name before everything turned blank."

Then she locked eyes with Selina for quite some time before Catwoman pulled her cowl off and sat down on the floor, with her back facing Wonder Woman.

-xxx-

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Zatanna had to double check to make sure that the sentence wasn't uttered by Batman. Nope, definitely not. It was this Amy girl all right, who was defiantly locking eyes with Jason Blood and – of all people – the Batman. Right. Locking eyes defiantly with Batman. _How old is this girl again? Nineteen? And she's the only __surviving Lord of Order? Gimme a break._

"You are Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Ruler of the Amethyst Kingdom, ancestor of the myriad magi in the future. You're also the only surviving Lord of Order in the Tenth Age of Magic. We need your help, Princess Amethyst. Your vacation time is over."

Evidently ignoring Jason Blood, Amy turned her back to return to her seat. In one glance she scanned the surroundings and found no other library visitors other than them. She looked at Zatanna and realized that it was that magi's doing.

"So you've kicked out everyone from the library so I can study for my exam? Good. Thanks. Now can you leave? I need to finish this assignment by tomorrow morning."

"Dr. Fate told us how you purposely escaped the Gemworld some time ago because you were done with magical world," Jason spoke again. "I understand your tiredness, your boredom. But right now we need your help."

"Oh yeah?" Amy flipped a page of her book. "Why should I care?"

"In addition to being the most powerful gem bearer in the universe, perhaps because you're a fan of Wonder Woman?" Batman suggested matter-of-factly as he pointed to Amy's Wonder Woman lunch box. "She's in trouble, and you're clearly fond of her." Amy's face went beet-red as she shoved her lunch box inside her bag.

"Old lunch box, what do you care?!" She carelessly wiped a strand of her blonde hair from her eyes and reached for her pen. Then, a fraction of a second later, "Who has Wonder Woman?" She exhaled. "Is there anyone able to capture Wonder Woman?"

_Ha! We finally got your attention, eh?_ Zatanna smirked. "Technically speaking, they didn't capture Wonder Woman. But she's being held captive anyway, so the semantics of it make no difference. And although we might be able to solve the problem without you, the fact that Morgaine le Fay has possession of the Desert Rose doesn't help at all."

That certainly caught Amy's interest. "You mean the legendary Desert Rose is now in the hands of Morgaine le Fay? Of all the sorceresses, you let her have it?!"

"Hey, watch it! I didn't freely hand it to her!"

"Zatanna," Batman warned her to stop. "Amethyst, the story is long, but if you're up to it, I could fill you in right now."

Amethyst tried to look into Batman's lenses before giving up. Still, "Nope. No can do. You guys are superheroes, deal with it yourself. I have assignments to finish."

"But you said you're a fan of Diana's!" Zee almost lost her patience. "You must help her! Imagine, helping your idol!"

"Besides, we're not superheroes at all," Jason helped Zatanna. "Batman here is a human. Zatanna is a magi, but half human as well. I'm an immortal cursed soul, so hardly a superhero. We need your power to defeat the ruby corrupted by le Fay's power."

Amy looked into Jason's centuries-old eyes. She sighed. "You've gone through so many things, have you not?" Jason blinked; the change of conversation topic startled him. Suddenly the teenage Amy seemed to disappear, replaced by a more mature woman with the same clothes and hair color. "You have been into the mists of death and back again, hoping one day that you would have this sorceress pay for her crimes… and yet, alas such a day has not arrived as yet, and may never, perhaps…"

She looked at the amethyst talisman at Jason's hand, tracing it silently. Then suddenly, her speech pattern changed again. "But I won't do it! I've promised not to deal with that stuff anymore, and I won't do it!"

Zatanna had just about enough of this. "Look, Missy, Princess, whatever. I am not sure what the heck happened to you, but you're coming in with us! And you will do so because it's your responsibility. By the stars, you're the most powerful magi in the world, and you're not helping us?!"

"No I won't, because the world has had more than enough from me," Amy responded with the same stubborn teenage voice. "And I've told Lord White Topaz to leave me alone. I can't believe he told Dr. Fate about my whereabouts!"

It took a few volley arguments between Zatanna, Jason Blood and Amy before Batman spoke again. This time, his voice was laden with curiosity instead of authority. "Why – as a matter of interest – don't you want to help us? Why don't you want to be Amethyst anymore? Not because of boredom, I take it?" When Amy didn't answer, he resumed. "Is it because you lost your parents during your adventures as Amethyst? They're not dead, but they didn't recognize you anymore. You lost your youthful time because of Amethyst. That's why you don't want to be her anymore."

When the blonde girl finally answered, her voice was not of a teenager's. "I see you utilized your deduction ability tremendously well, Batman. You have known all the time. Now may I ask you all respectfully for you to all to leave me alone?"

-xxx-

Amethyst was indeed the most powerful ruler of Gemworld. She was adopted and raised by Herb and Marion Winston of Earth, but on her thirteenth birthday (Earth time), Sorceress Citrina called her back to Gemworld to do her duty as the only living heir of the Amethyst Kingdom. In Gemworld, she suddenly became a twenty year old Princess, and gained birthright powers. Her powers were originally similar yet much more powerful to the Green Lanterns' and Star Sapphires', yet later she developed other magical abilities as well. Her first enemy in Gemworld was Dark Opal, who killed her parents when she was still a baby.

Amethyst eventually united almost all the kingdoms of Gemworld, save the Dark Opal's realm, and she defeated Dark Opal. Yet, it came at a cost. After her nth adventure in Gemworld, she returned to Earth with her friend Emmy (who was actually the younger Princess of Emerald Kingdom) to find her Earth parents forgetting who she was and taking Emmy as their daughter instead. It broke Amethyst's heart tremendously, though she bore it well and returned to Gemworld instead. After several more battles with the Lords of Chaos, Amethyst chose to merge with a Chaos agent called The Child and then merging both of them with the Gemworld itself. After a period of time, The Child disappeared, and Amethyst remained as a Goddess who watched over the Gemworld.

Until one day she was bored and decided to visit Earth. There, at least twenty Earth years after her last visit, she met another couple that had a daughter that looked very much like a teenage version of her. Long blonde hair, pretty though rather tomboy and sharp tongued, and most importantly she was also called Amy (short from 'Amaryllis'). Hovering above the couple's house one night, Amethyst was very surprised that the couple's name was also Winston; Ed and Amelia Winston this time.

Amethyst had not intended to do anything but observe the Winston's daily life. It made her experience simple Earthly happiness; something that she didn't realize she missed until she encountered them. But something else happened beyond her control. A few days later, Amaryllis Winston traveled with her friends to a rural area for a school camp. The bus they rode on had a terrible accident, and some of the passengers, including Amaryllis, had died. The Winstons were shocked when they received the news, and they went directly to the local hospital to check if the dreadful news of their daughter's passing was indeed true. Amethyst was there, invisible from mortal eyes, arriving from Gemworld a few minutes before the news arrived. She warped herself to the local hospital and indeed found Amaryllis dead. Unwilling to admit defeat, Amethyst used every inch of her power to revive young Amaryllis. But alas, not even she could defeat the Fate.

"No… the Winstons will be so sad…"

"How do you know my parents?" a voice suddenly talked to her.

Utterly surprised, Amethyst turned and saw a transparent Amaryllis floating next to her. Until now, Amethyst never realized that a ghost could see her, but apparently so was the case, at least with Amaryllis.

"I… uh…" the Great Amethyst was at loss.

"Are you a … ghost like me?" Amaryllis blinked. "I'm dead, right? You look like me, only with fancier clothes. Are you my guardian angel? I saw you doing some things to my body down there…"

Amethyst found that she couldn't lie to her new dead friend. She explained that she was not Amy's guardian angel, and Amy might leave for another plane of existence very soon enough. She also explained who she was, Amethyst of Gemworld, a sorceress, really, and she was sad that Amy must go.

"I'm sad too…" whispered Amaryllis mournfully. "I love Mom and Dad so much…Mom… she bade me goodbye as I went to the bus, saying that she loved me. But I didn't get to reply her that I loved her back. I wish I'd told her…" Then, suddenly, an inspiration hit her. "Amethyst, I have a request for you."

The request turned out to be the best offer Amethyst ever heard of. Amaryllis asked her to take her place in the Winston family. She offered Amethyst to be Amy Winston again.

"But what if your mother knows? I know nothing about you. She will know I'm a fraud!"

"Oh, come on! You said that you're sorceress magi whatever. You can tap my muscle memories or mind melt with me, right? I've seen those on TV, you can do it." She started to be more transparent. "Please. I'm leaving soon, I can feel it. You must say yes. I can't leave Mom and Dad alone." Amaryllis almost disappeared. "Please…"

Realizing that she indeed had not much time left, Amethyst nodded. "Alright, I will do that. For you…For your parents." She added silently _for me_ before touching Amaryllis disappearing shadow, trying to catch bits of her subconscious. She caught a few before Amaryllis completely disappeared. Amethyst sighed and bade her new friend goodbye before diving into her new body.

The rest was new history for her. The doctors declared her resurrection normal, although very uncommon, for she just stopped breathing for an hour. Amaryllis' parents considered it nothing short of a miracle. Amethyst agreed, for she now had a new life with new mother and father, new friends, and even a new golden retriever she brought a few weeks after 'her' accident. She named him Taffy, after her old golden retriever.

-xxx-

Batman knew the gist of Amethyst's story from Dr. Fate, who was reluctantly told of it by Amethyst herself a while ago when he finally sensed her presence. Bruce recited all that he knew as they flew to UK at top speed with his Batwing. Jason and Zatanna were silent as he told the story.

"So she is really The Amethyst…" Zatanna eventually said. "Must be convenient for her to have a new family, huh?"

"I don't blame her for not helping us," Jason shrugged. "I might do the same if I was allowed to see my family once more… to be with them once more."

Zatanna studied him carefully. "I didn't know that you had a family, Jason. I always assumed you were single when Morgaine seduced you."

"I had my mother… and a girl who I used to know back in the village. I always thought of her as a friend, until Morgaine betrayed me. Only then did I realize just how much she meant to me. But of course after Merlin cursed me, I couldn't see my mother or her anymore. It would be too painful for them to learn what I'd done…"

Unexpectedly, the next inquirer wasn't Zatanna. "So, you never told her that you loved her? Your friend I mean."

Jason looked at Batman who was navigating the Batwing next to him. It was impossible to read that man's facial expression. Still, he replied. "No, I never did. I sent my mother and her food, gold and flowers now and then. They lived together after her parents died. They sometimes thought that the gifts were from me, but the official news from Camelot was that I died courageously during the battle, body not accounted for."

"What happened to them then?" Zatanna asked again.

"My mother died of old age. My friend… she eventually married someone she loved, years after my apparent demise. I never knew if she loved me or not… until years after her death when I found the diary she wrote." Jason stopped for a while before he found strength to resume. "I often wish that I had told her that I loved her…"

They spent the remainder of the cross-Atlantic journey in utter silence, each to his/her own mind. The silence was only broken after the Batwing landed outside Jason's old house in Somerset, enclosed by a range of green and misty hills.

"I built this house back in the early Renaissance time. It takes only 20 minutes by your Batwing from here to Morgaine's castle. Or even quicker if we teleport," he explained as he led his guests inside the house. "I think I still have some canned food and potatoes for dinner, if you want."

"I don't have time for dinner," was the harsh reply of The Bat.

"Well, I do," argued Zatanna. "Jason needs some time to make new spells now that we don't have Amethyst's assistance. I'm famished, and I can easily make those food cooked in a second."

"I thought you could make food appear just by saying it backwards," said Batman.

"No, she can't," Jason replied as he took out some canned tomatoes and anchovies. "Ever read Harry Potter? Food is one of those several elements you cannot conjure up from thin air." He placed potatoes on the dining table and let Zatanna do her chores.

"I thought you guys were more advanced than Harry Potter," Batman sat as Zatanna turned the canned food and potatoes into an acceptable dinner.

"Shut up and eat," Zee glowered. "And don't you dare say that it's not delicious. On the other hand –" she smirked, "I'm glad to know that you at least don't know that I cannot conjure up food. Means you think that I'm a powerful witch."

Batman smirked as he tilted his head. "You _are_ a powerful witch, Zatanna. I thought that I wouldn't need to say it to you?"

-xxx-

Batman wouldn't admit it, but the food actually did help alleviating his mood. After dinner, he watched as Jason and Zatanna entered a very serious discussion on spells. Knowing he couldn't help with magic, he decided to call his contact at MI-5 regarding the Crown. Batman went to the balcony and activated his holographic videophone. The face of a dark and tall man who danced with Zatanna in London appeared. Batman spent several more minutes to ensure the MI-5 agent that he would not hand the original Crown to Morgaine le Fay. The agent wasn't easy to please, but he was convinced anyway. Batman finally turned off the connection and was about to dial Oracle when Zatanna appeared behind him.

"Did he ask for my number?"

"Thought you've given him that."

"Forgot," Zee shrugged as she perched at the balcony in front of Batman. She observed Bruce talking to Oracle for a while.

"Why did you never tell me?"

Bruce just finished his conversation with Oracle. "Excuse me?"

"Why did you never tell me?" Zatanna drilled into his lenses. "You know, about Wonder Woman."

"I'm not-"

"Bruce, this is me. Spare me the gimmick and just tell me why. I always thought that the reason you couldn't date me was Selina."

"Zatanna, I don't think –"

"Jason still needs another thirty minutes for the potion. I've done my part with him. I think I can use my time now by listening to you telling me about Diana." When Bruce didn't say anything, she sighed and reached for his gauntleted hands. "Bruce, I've loved you for quite some times now… once or twice I even thought that we could make it…You know, I think I deserve to know."

The silence was thick before Batman spoke again. "I don't know…what to tell you. And I'm being honest here, Zee…"

"How about at the beginning. When did you realize that you love her?" She saw his jaws clenching and felt her heart sinking.

"I can't even remember," said Bruce finally. "Perhaps around the time Arthur and Atlantis disappeared… years ago." He shook his head. "Honestly Zee, this is not the time."

"Will you… tell her?" He gave her a blank look, such that she sighed. "Bruce… I know that we might not be able to save Selina and Diana now… but…who knows? And if we could save them…perhaps you should tell her that."

Batman shook his head. "Zatanna…I'm so sorry I could never…"

"Love me back?" Zee smiled ruefully. "But at least we talked about it, right? Now if you never talked about your feelings to Diana with her, I suggest you do both of you justice."

"You don't understand. We did talk. We… decided not to pursue that path."

"Are you happy with that?"

"Of course." Yet, his countenance betrayed his words.

"Riiiight. Is she happy with that?"

"Why don't you ask Nemesis?"

"Why don't you ask Carol Ferris?"

That's where Batman got lost. "I never knew Diana was interested in women?"

Zatanna snickered. "Believe me, I would laugh if our condition was not so grim now, Bruce..."

"What do you mean by Ferris?"

Zee pursed her lips. "Actually, I'm not sure if I should tell you this. Carol told me in confidence… and it's not even relevant to our mission right now." She caught the way Batman looked at her, sighed, and gave in. "Okay. I will just tell you what she told me. Carol came to me a few weeks after the Blackest Night event ended. That was a few weeks after Diana returned her deputy ring to her." Batman nodded. He was well-informed about the Blackest Night events. Nightwing filled him up after his return. He let Zatanna continue. "Carol said that she felt something strange with her duplicate ring; it didn't want to merge back with her main commando ring. Carol thought it was magic. After we checked it, turned out that it wasn't magical at all, but just residues from Diana's love."

"I failed to see the connection."

"So did I back then. After I did some spells, we could only sense that the ring contained not only Diana's unconditional love for all creation; it also contained her unrequited love. I said to Carol that it was actually impossible; Diana was dating Nemesis anyway. Still is, so far as I know. Carol agreed. We also agreed that it wasn't our place to snoop around anymore, for we already touched Diana's private domain then. Carol finally returned the ring to Diana, for it still didn't want to merge back with her commando ring. Basically, the ring is Diana's now."

Zee caught the way Batman turned to look at the hills ahead. Morgaine's hide-out must be behind the hills, which started to glow faintly in the early violet color of the dawn. _Time is running out. _She cleared her throat and resumed. "But when I heard you screaming Diana's name as Catwoman fell, I then realized that _you_ were Diana's unrequited love. It might not be unrequited even… it might be unattained or unfulfilled, but definitely requited."

When Batman turned again to face Zatanna, his expression was more unreadable than before. "It doesn't matter now. She's with Tom Tresser. And I'm not even sure if we can get her – and Selina – out of the predicament, let alone telling Diana – " His jaws clenched. "Anyway. It doesn't matter."

"Don't underestimate Jason and I," Zatanna gestured to Jason who was wrapping up his parchments and some bottles of potions. She asked if the host of Etrigan was ready, and upon receiving the confirmation, she followed Batman out into the yard where the Batwing parked. Then she stopped dead to see a cloaked figure standing by the Batwing. Next to her, Batman already took out his Batarang.

"Wait," said the figure as it emerged out of the shadow. The figure then pulled off the hood to reveal a beautiful young blonde woman. "I just arrived here, and I am not sure what to do next. But I know one thing for sure: after this, I'm returning home to Mom and Dad. Mom's baking me chocolate cake tomorrow and Dad's helping me re-painting my room and I'm not missing those things for the whole world."

"Of course, Amethyst," there's a mirth in Batman's voice as he stored back his Batarang. "I also can't let you miss your exams either."

-TBC-

_Author's note:_

_Sorry for the hiatus again… but I've been busy with the NEW Batman and Wonder Woman Forum (YAY!). Browse www dot batmanwonderwoman dot com and find us BMWW lovers there. _

_Re: Amethyst's history, it was pretty much correct until Amethyst found Amaryllis' family. That part was my own making. But Amy Winston did love Wonder Woman; I saw her doing some lassoing 'a la WW on TV' during her pre-crisis Amethyst run… and she also had a WW poster on her bed. Part of the Jason Blood love story was also made up. Basically both stories led to Batman's pondering why he didn't tell Diana about his feelings for her._


End file.
